Former DOGE Staffers Say ChatGPT Was Used to Cancel LGBTQ+ Research Grants

Court proceedings brought by the Modern Language Association, the American Council of Learned Societies and the American Historical Association have made more than ten hours of deposition footage public. The groups argue the agency unlawfully terminated funding tied to research on race, gender and LGBTQ+ communities.

According to testimony, DOGE staff were deployed inside the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency that supports research, museums and public humanities programmes. Within weeks, more than 1,400 grants were reportedly terminated, removing tens of millions of dollars in funding.

Former DOGE officials Justin Fox and Nathan Cavanaugh told investigators they were responsible for reviewing grants despite having no prior experience in government or grant administration. As part of that process, Fox said he used the AI chatbot ChatGPT to scan grant descriptions and determine whether they were linked to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Fox told investigators he used a short prompt to analyse grant descriptions: “Does the following relate at all to D.E.I.? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”

He acknowledged that the term DEI was never formally defined when asking the system to evaluate applications.

During questioning, Fox said grants referencing LGBTQ+ subjects frequently stood out during the review process.

“Promoting an LGBTQ study, stipending research on gender fluidity,” he said when describing projects that were flagged.

Fox also testified that he compiled lists of what he described as the “craziest” and “other bad” grants using keywords including “LGBTQ.,” “BIPOC,” “Tribal,” “ethnicity,” “gender,” “equality,” “immigration,” “citizenship”, and “melting pot.”

One cancelled project was a programme titled “Examining experiences of LGBTQ military service”, which aimed to bring veterans and community members together to discuss the experiences of marginalised service members.

When asked why the project was targeted, Cavanaugh responded: “Because it explicitly says LGBTQ.”

Another grant focused on the legacy of HIV and AIDS activism and prison abolition. Fox testified that “We felt the latter part of the description, specifically bringing feminist and queer insights into prison abolition… gender and LGBTQ studies and so forth. So we felt that this referenced LGBTQ and preferencing and DEI altogether.”

The lawsuit alleges the cancellations were unlawful and carried out by “unqualified agents”.