February 19, 2026
Two bros and a bot walk into budget cuts
DOGE Bro's Grant Review Process Was Literally Just Asking ChatGPT 'Is This DEI?'
Two bros, one chatbot, and your NEH grants — commenters are roasting
TLDR: A lawsuit says two appointees used ChatGPT to tag NEH grants as “DEI” and cancel them, with staff sidelined. Commenters are roasting it as lazy “gov by bot,” arguing AI may over-flag DEI and joking about coin‑flip policy—while warning real people and projects could get hurt.
The internet is howling after a newly revealed lawsuit claims two DOGE appointees allegedly fed National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant summaries into ChatGPT and asked, “Does this relate to DEI?” (that’s diversity, equity, and inclusion) — and then axed anything that got a Yes. According to the filing, NEH staff were largely blocked from rescuing projects. Cue the commenter pile‑on.
The loudest vibe: this is “gov by bot” and it’s exactly what people feared. One user deadpanned “Simple, cheap and fast,” while another snapped that they “stupidly did exactly what was stupidly expected.” There’s a hot take duel brewing: some argue the bigger scandal is not AI, but leadership outsourcing judgment to a chatbot known to hallucinate; others say the real twist is that ChatGPT might tag anything remotely cultural as DEI, widening the cut list far beyond intent.
Meanwhile, the memes are merciless. A jokester posted a code snippet that amounts to flipping a coin to approve grants — the new “federal policy,” apparently. And a darker current runs through the thread: if humanities grants (think museums, libraries, local history) can be canceled by a 120‑character bot verdict, what’s next? Whether you call it disruption or dysfunction, the crowd’s verdict is in: don’t let a chatbot hold the budget knife.
Key Points
- •A proposed amended complaint by the Authors Guild alleges DOGE personnel used ChatGPT to assess whether NEH grants were related to DEI and to guide terminations.
- •Justin Fox reportedly used a fixed prompt asking ChatGPT to answer in under 120 characters with a Yes/No on DEI relevance for each grant description.
- •The complaint says Fox did not verify ChatGPT’s interpretation of “DEI,” and NEH staff were largely prevented from removing flagged grants from the termination list.
- •The article identifies Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox as key DOGE figures involved across agencies; Cavanaugh held roles at USIP and the Interagency Council on Homelessness.
- •The piece notes earlier reports of AI tools being used for cuts and says the filing provides documentation of that process.