The American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association are welcoming a ruling Tuesday by Judge Colleen McMahon allowing video footage of depositions that went viral to be published online again.
The depositions are evidence in a lawsuit to restore the function and funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The organizations sued to halt the unlawful dismantling of the NEH, which included the cutting of grants and staffing by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The lawsuit alleges that DOGE used a flawed, AI-driven process to target projects for termination based on ideological factors, specifically flagging terms like “BIPOC,” “LGBTQ,” and “Diversity.”
In her ruling Judge McMahon wrote, “[T]he testimony in the videos concerns the conduct of public officials acting in their official capacities – a context in which the public interest in transparency and accountability is at its apex…. The subject matter of this testimony – how government officials carried out their official responsibilities – falls squarely within that core public interest.”
The ruling follows a previous temporary setback on March 16, when the administration had the videos, which had gone viral, taken down from platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and the Internet Archive.
The videos contain deposition testimony from former DOGE staffers regarding massive grant cuts made by the department, totaling more than $100 million.
For example, former staffer Justin Fox, who is in his early 20s, admitted to using ChatGPT to identify and flag thousands of grants for elimination.
These included terminating a $350,000 grant for an HVAC system at the High Point Museum because AI flagged the word “access” as related to diversity initiatives and projects such as a Holocaust survivor documentary and an archival project on Italian American communities.
Despite being tasked with purging DEI programs, DOGE staffers repeatedly struggled to define the term during his deposition, leading to the widely shared clips of the exchange.
The videos highlighted that the staffers — most in their early 20s with no prior government or grant-writing experience — were making personal judgment calls to cancel long-standing federal projects.
Staffer Nathan Kavanaugh (age 28) admitted that despite the thousands of cuts, the agency’s actions did not actually reduce the federal deficit before DOGE was disbanded.
The following statements were issued by the plaintiffs in response:
“This decision validates our position that the publication of the videos, which document a process to destroy knowledge and access to vital public programs, was indeed in the public’s interest,” said ACLS president Joy Connolly. “We look forward to continuing the pursuit of justice in reclaiming government support for important humanities research, education, and sustainability initiatives.”
“We are pleased that this evidence, which documents the workings of DOGE and the dismantling of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will remain part of the publicly accessible historical record,” said AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel.
“NEH grantees and the American public deserve transparency about the process by which the current administration terminated support for humanities education, research, and programming. The AHA remains committed to pursuing our effort to restore the NEH and the vital mission with which Congress charged it: helping to create and sustain ‘a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry’ through the humanities,” Weicksel said.
“We are pleased to see today’s ruling in defense of the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” said MLA executive director Paula Krebs. “The depositions in this case document what had not before been documented: how DOGE worked to silence projects that tell the American story. This ruling makes clear the public’s stake in understanding the processes that resulted in the near-destruction of the NEH.”
New York Almanack is reporting on the Trump regime’s impacts, particularly in New York State, but we can’t do it without your help. Please support this work.
Read more about the impacts of Trump’s policies in New York State.
Source link
