A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the terminations of hundreds of humanities grants last year by the Trump administration’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) were unconstitutional and involved “blatant” discrimination. In April last year, Donald Trump’s administration terminated more than 1,400 grants, representing more than $100m in congressionally appropriated funds awarded to scholars, writers, research institutions and other humanities organizations.

The terminations were part of a cost-cutting drive that billionaire Elon Musk was leading at Doge.

“The Government engaged in blatant viewpoint discrimination,” the US district judge Colleen McMahon said in condemning what the Trump administration cast as a crackdown on diversity practices.

The judge said the terminations violated the US constitution’s first amendment, which provides free speech rights, and its fifth amendment’s equal protection component. The ruling also said Doge did not have the legal authority to terminate the grants.

“What mattered to DOGE was not whether a grant lacked scholarly merit, failed to comply with its terms, or fell outside NEH’s [the National Endowment for the Humanities] statutory purposes. What mattered was that the grant concerned a ’minority group’,” the judge wrote.

“DOGE swept in race and ethnicity – including grants concerning Black, Asian, Latino, and Indigenous communities – as well as national origin and immigration status; religion and religious identity (including Jewish, Christian, and Muslim subjects); sex; and sexual orientation, as criteria for grant termination.”

The judge also said that Doge staff’s use of the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to come up with the rationale to terminate some grants would not absolve the government of responsibility for its decisions.

“The government cannot escape liability for DOGE’s work by scapegoating ChatGPT,” the judge wrote. Rights advocates have raised concerns about Trump’s attacks on educational and arts institutions, diversity initiatives, and historical places and museums, saying they could undo decades of social progress and undermine acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.

Trump has alleged that many cultural, arts and educational institutions and bodies are a bastion of liberalism and “anti-American” values that do not portray US history in a positive light. He has made threats to cut their federal funding over pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity programs.

His targets have ranged from elite universities, the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center to broadcasters including National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.