During a rally on February 17, 2025, in Los Angeles, a demonstrator protested against policies from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The administration under Trump frequently uses tactics to unsettle American political traditions, making it challenging to hold them accountable. One notable example of these tactics is the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and its effects on the federal government during Trump’s second term’s initial 100 days.
The purpose of DOGE was to aggressively target federal agencies. It initiated thorough purges supposedly aimed at eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse. Experts describe these cuts to federal agencies as substantial, erratic, and extensive. Its actions paid little attention to the law, as it operated under the president’s authority, often sidestepping Congress’s role in creating these agencies.
One significant instance involved the National Endowment for the Humanities. DOGE rescinded nearly all active grants from the Biden administration era and dismissed two-thirds of the staff. On May 7, Judge Colleen McMahon issued a strong ruling in the Federal District Court in Manhattan against DOGE’s irresponsible handling of the endowment. This ruling highlighted viewpoint discrimination, which violates the First Amendment, by favoring work deemed patriotic by the administration over projects embodying diversity and criticizing this policy.
Judge McMahon criticized two young DOGE employees lacking experience in government or grant administration for handling the endowment’s representation. Their actions, including using ChatGPT to identify grants linked with ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion, contravened the endowment’s statutory power vested in its chair. Their pressure on the acting chair to conform to the administration’s desires demonstrated a clear disregard for constitutional law.
McMahon’s ruling is a testament to the courts’ role in opposing the administration’s unlawful actions. It serves as a stark reminder that tactics like DOGE’s will not go unchecked in the judiciary. However, remembering DOGE’s actions and McMahon’s detailed judgment is crucial for resisting the Trump administration’s continued ideological maneuvers. The administration aims to blur the lines of historical actions, rendering the persistence of such memories imperative.
Authored by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College.
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