Judge rules Trump administration's cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutionalhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-rules-trump-administration-s-cancellation-of-humanities-grants-was-unconstitutional/ar-AA22Evhy?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=b1e9a2ccf91f44e6b6cc106a5111ee5d&ei=28 🔗 [Link: msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-rules-trump-administration-s-cancellation-of-humanities-grants-was-unconstitutional/ar-AA22Evhy/]DAVE COLLINS (7 May 2026)
The Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organizations was unconstitutional, and the Department of Government Efficiency had no authority to end the funding, a federal judge in New York ruled on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan sided with The Authors Guild, several other groups and several people who had their grants canceled and sued DOGE and the National Endowment for the Humanities. McMahon permanently barred the administration from terminating the grants and criticized DOGE's use of artificial intelligence in nixing the funding.
Government lawyers had argued that the cuts of more than 1,400 grants of congressionally approved funds were legal moves to implement President Donald Trump's directives, eliminate grants associated with diversion, equity and inclusion and reduce discretionary spending under the administration's priorities.
McMahon said the government violated the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment's equal protection right, and DOGE did not have the lawful authority to cancel the grants. She wrote, for example, that it was "a textbook example of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination" when officials canceled the grants based on DEI.
"The public interest favors permanent relief," McMahon wrote in her ruling. "The public has a strong interest in ensuring that federal officials act within the bounds set by Congress and the Constitution."
