If you were hoping to see what some of the racist tweens behind the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency look like and how they justified their actions to dismantle scores of federal agencies, you’re in luck. Well, “luck,” really.
The Modern Language Association, which sued the Trump administration over its arbitrary and illegal termination of over $100 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants, just posted six hours of one DOGE bro explaining how he chose which grants to cut.
Meet Justin Fox. He enjoys being sullen, wearing his best tech bro quarter-zip sweater, and failing miserably to explain his actions.
Despite having held a high-profile slash-and-burn role at several agencies, Fox really hasn’t deigned to talk about his background. What little we know is that he was formerly an associate at an investment firm for a spell before multibillionaire Elon Musk tapped him to be a DOGE dork, so Fox was pretty sure he was super-qualified to terminate millions in arts grants.
Of course, this lazy grifter doofus used ChatGPT, feeding the AI bot every NEH grant with the prompt: “Does the following relate at all to D.E.I.? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
120 characters definitely seems like plenty for a chatbot to explain whether something is “D.E.I,” an entirely amorphous and meaningless concept that is really just conservative-speak for “We don’t want any money to go to minorities.”
Related | This annual government report proves that DOGE is useless
But when asked to explain a little bit more about his very rigorous method, things fell apart. Fox searched for forbidden DEI terms like “Black” and “LGBTQ,” explaining that a documentary about Black civil rights was “not for the benefit of humankind. It is focused on this specific group, or a specific race, here being Black.”
Buddy.
Notably, when asked about it during the deposition, this genius admitted that they didn’t search for, say, “white” or “heterosexual,” because we all know that white straight people are the only ones who matter because they are blessedly free of DEI.
But thank god that Fox and ChatGPT saved us from DEI horrors like a $349,000 grant to upgrade an old HVAC system at a museum. Here’s the ChatGPT rationale Fox swallowed whole: “Improving HVAC systems enhances preservation conditions for collections, aligning with the goal of providing greater access to diverse audiences.”
And as far as the fact that DOGE didn’t reduce the deficit at all?
“I have to believe that the dollars that were saved went to mission critical, non-wasteful spending, and so, again, in the broad macro: an unfortunate circumstance for an individual, but this is an effort for the administration,” Fox babbled during his deposition.
Oh, okay then. As long as it was “an effort for the administration,” it doesn’t matter what any of the real-world effects were. Got it.
Now, meet Nate Cavanaugh. Nate enjoys smirking, rocking in his chair, and being smug about how he destroyed “useless small agencies.”
Cavanaugh also oversaw the raid on the U.S. Institute of Peace because of course he did. As a 28-year-old tech entrepreneur, this DOGE doofus was just as qualified as Fox to terminate roughly 97% of NEH grants, which is to say not at all.
Cavanaugh did, however, manage to target an Afghan scholar on social media for the crime of working with USIP, leading to the Taliban taking his family. Guess that’s some sort of achievement?
Related | Unqualified DOGE bro leads raid on agency dedicated to world peace
What comes through the most when you watch these little masters of the universe is their profound arrogance, their confidence that they knew better than the whole of government, and their certainty that they’ll never suffer any consequences for their actions.
On the last part, they’re probably right.
