Authors Guild Scores Victory in NEH Grant Lawsuit

The Authors Guild scored a major victory last week in its class action lawsuit against the National Endowment of the Arts (NEH) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), originally filed this May against the termination of 1,400 research grants to scholars and authors.

On July 24, Judge Colleen McMahon of New York’s Southern District court ruled in favor of the Authors Guild, finding that the NEH and DOGE officials’ mass cancellation of already-committed NEH grants to individual scholars and authors violated the first amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act.

The court also concurred with the Authors Guild that the Trump administration likely violated federal law, as the withdrawal of previously committed funding targeted projects that “promoted or were associated with viewpoints” the administration disfavors, or which were awarded by the prior Democratic administration, per the decision.

Though she did not immediately release the funds, Judge McMahon ordered that the funds be retained and not re-obligated until a trial on the substantive facts of the case is held. Per McMahon, the power to order the payment of funds is reserved for the Court of Federal Claims.

The Authors Guild called the ruling a “crucial check on government power to silence academic voices based on political disagreements.” “The decision is a heartening reminder that courts remain a bastion against government overreach and will step in to protect fundamental rights and liberties when they are blatantly threatened,” it said.