A federal judge restored more than 1,400 previously terminated National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants, ruling the mass cancellation unconstitutional. The decision from U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon addressed lawsuits filed by scholarly organizations and grant recipients after NEH funding—over $100 million—was revoked in 2025 under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Discovery filings revealed the DOGE process used ChatGPT to flag humanities work allegedly violating the president’s anti-DEI executive orders, with grants containing words such as “history,” “culture,” and “identity” targeted by AI. McMahon found DOGE officials violated First Amendment rights and equal protection principles, issuing a broad remedy that included ordering rescission of the cuts. The ruling stresses how federal agencies’ compliance processes—especially when they rely on automated viewpoint screening—can chill protected expression, disrupt research and publication, and suspend programming. NEH staff capacity and future grant operations now face renewed scrutiny as the agency rebuilds after last year’s disruption.