Employees stated they instructed ChatGPT to remove anything considered “DEI” from government budgets. The employees, inexperienced at Elon Musk’s DOGE, used ChatGPT to assess what aspects were tagged as “DEI” to decide on their removal from government funds. This revelation came to light due to a lawsuit from the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association which sought to undo DOGE’s cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Videos of depositions featuring DOGE employees, Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh, are now available on YouTube.
During the proceedings, it was disclosed that DOGE employees routinely asked ChatGPT if an item was related to DEI, using this information to simplify their decision-making processes. The AI would offer a concise “yes” or “no” reply, followed by a brief explanation. Despite their positions, Fox and Cavanaugh lacked experience in government service before joining DOGE, a fact highlighted in viral video clips from their depositions.
In these clips, Fox struggles to define DEI despite being responsible for removing relevant programs. Fox mentioned that DOGE would defund projects like those highlighting Black civil rights or a film about Jewish women in the Holocaust, viewing them under the DEI lens. Terms such as “Black,” “gender,” “LGBTQ+,” and “equality” were flagged while others like “Caucasian” and “heterosexual” were not subject to the same scrutiny. Cavanaugh labeled grants marked for cutting, including many LGBTQ+ projects, as “craziest.”
Behind orders to slash trillions from the U.S. deficit, DOGE managed to cut billions, yet the deficit continued to climb. Eventually, DOGE was disbanded in late 2025. Ongoing investigations are examining DOGE’s practices and the inexperienced personnel Musk employed. Allegations have emerged of an employee extracting social security records on a USB for personal use.
Fox and Cavanaugh were compensated $150,000 and $120,000, respectively, while at DOGE.