ACLS-AHA-MLA Lawsuit: Discovery Materials
On Friday, March 6, 2026, the ACLS, the American Historical Association (AHA), and the Modern Language Association (MLA) filed a motion for a summary judgment in their case to restore terminated grants awarded to schools, libraries, and community organizations by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The motion, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, included discovery documents revealing that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) used a flawed ChatGPT process to identify “DEI programs” and inform decisions to terminate grants awarded by the NEH, as well as uncovered egregious and illegal actions that affect organizations and residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Discovery Documents
Exhibit 1: Transcript of video-recorded deposition of Justin Fox, January 28, 2026
Exhibit 2: Transcript of video-recorded deposition of Nathan Cavanaugh, January 23, 2026
Exhibit 3: Transcript of video-recorded deposition of Michael McDonald, January 30, 2026
Exhibit 4: February 7 email, subject: “NEH EO Award Review Spreadsheet”
Exhibit 5: April 1 email correspondence, subject: “RE: NEH Grants Termination”
Exhibit 6: Spreadsheet with NEH staff annotations
Exhibit 7: A list of ACLS Plaintiffs’ and their members’ grants that were terminated
Exhibit 8: March 13 email, subject: “historical review of grants”
Exhibit 9: “Detection List” created by DOGE’s Justin Fox with keywords like “gay,” “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color),” “indigenous,” “tribal,” “melting pot,” “equality,” and similar terms, to identify grants that he dubbed the “Craziest Grants” and “Other Bad Grants.”
Exhibit 10: April 3 email, subject: “Crazy grants”
Exhibit 11: Spreadsheet (AR_000024) compiled by Fox. He submitted the description of 1,162 grants in the NEH database to ChatGPT with the following prompt: “Does the following relate at all to DEI? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes.’ or ‘No.’ followed by a brief explanation. Do not use ‘this initiative’ or ‘this description’ in your response.”
Exhibit 12: Spreadsheet compiled by Fox. For the grants that NEH staff flagged as at risk of promoting DEI or gender ideology, Fox simply designated them all as involving DEI.
Exhibit 13: March 13 email, subject: “NEH Grants”
Exhibit 14: Spreadsheet compiled by Michael McDonald and Wolfson recommending “grants to keep”
Exhibit 15: March email correspondence, subject: “Re: TO REVIEW Active Grants”
Exhibit 16: March email correspondence, subject: “Re: TO REVIEW Active Grants”
Exhibit 17: March email correspondence, subject: “Re: TO REVIEW Active Grants”
Exhibit 18: Email from NEH Chief Information Officer, Brett Bobley, to Dartmouth-affiliated grantees. “I’m terribly sorry to tell you that DOGE did indeed cancel your award. NEH staff, like myself, didn’t realize it was happening.”
Exhibit 19: Email from NEH Director of the Division of Research Programs, Christopher Thornton: “[…] we have not been able to reinstate the five NEH-JUSFC fellowships terminated by DOGE (per Acting Chairman Michael McDonald).”
Exhibit 20: NEH termination notice
Exhibit 21: Spreadsheet is taken from AR_000024, with some non-pertinent columns hidden for readability purposes.
Exhibit 22: April 3 email, subject: “Terminated Grants”
Exhibit 23: April email correspondence, subject: “RE: NEH Grants Termination”
Exhibit 24: Grants Implicated by Equal Protection Claim
Exhibit 25: List of terminated grants
Exhibit 26: Transcript of video-recorded deposition of Michael McDonald, January 29, 2026
Exhibit 27: March 12 email, subject: “NEH | Biden Grants”
Exhibit 28: Spreadsheet titled “Biden Grants”
Exhibit 29: “Talking Points for 4/9/25 NCH [National Council on the Humanities”] Meeting
Exhibit 30: March 17 email, subject: “NEH Review”
Exhibit 31: This spreadsheet contains ChatGPT’s output to Fox’s prompt asking if grants promote DEI.
Exhibit 32: Spreadsheet containing a compiled list of all grants “to cancel” and all grants “to keep.”
Exhibit 33: Defendants’ Responses and Objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Requests for Admissions
Exhibit 34: Text message from McDonald
Exhibit 35: Termination grant notice
Exhibit 36: Spreadsheet, “Contracts and Grants: Terminations”
Exhibit 37: Notice of Grant Termination document
Exhibit 38: Notice of Grant Termination document
Exhibit 39: Spreadsheet, “NEH Grants – To Cancel: Organizations (4/1/2025 action date)”
Deposition Videos
Michael McDonald Deposition in ACLS-AHA-MLA Lawsuit About the NEH
As part of a lawsuit brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association, Michael McDonald was deposed on January 30, 2026, about his role (as National Endowment for the Humanities General Counsel and Acting Chair of the NEH) in the termination of NEH grants.
Adam Wolfson Deposition in ACLS-AHA-MLA Lawsuit About the NEH
As part of a lawsuit brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association, Adam Wolfson was deposed on January 29, 2026, about his role (as NEH Assistant Chair for Programs) in the termination of NEH grants.
Nathan Cavanaugh Deposition in ACLS-AHA-MLA Lawsuit About the NEH
As part of a lawsuit brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association, Nathan Cavanaugh was deposed on January 23, 2026, about his role (as a political appointee at the General Services Administration and DOGE team member) in the termination of NEH grants.
Justin Fox Deposition in ACLS-AHA-MLA Lawsuit About the NEH
As part of a lawsuit brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association, Justin Fox was deposed on January 28, 2026 about his role (as senior advisor to Stephen Ehikian, Acting Administrator and Deputy Administrator of the General Services Administration, and DOGE team member) in the termination of NEH grants.