Justin Fox (DOGE employee)

Justin Fox is an American businessman who served in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Fox, along with DOGE employee Nate Cavanaugh, terminated 97% of grants administered under the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and is the subject of a lawsuit filed in 2026.[1][2][3] Fox is currently an employee of the General Services Administration and a member of the DOGE Small Agencies Team.[4]

Career

Fox previously worked for Jefferies, and later Nexus Capital Management.[5]

Second Trump administration

Fox joined DOGE in early March 2025, and shortly was assigned to aid DOGE at the US African Development Foundation.[6][7] Fox was also assigned to the National Labor Relations Board.[8]

On March 12, 2025, Fox was subsequently detailed at the National Endowment for the Humanities under Nate Cavanaugh.[9] Fox was tasked with tagging NEH grants for "DEI", and used ChatGPT to identify such grants. Fox compiled a list he described as the "craziest" and "other bad" grants, using three dozen keywords including "equality", "LGBT", and "immigration".[1] In 22 days, 97% of grants were cancelled, including a grant for High Point Museum to conduct HVAC repairs.[9][10]

Fox was deposed as part of a lawsuit filed by American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association.[9][11][12][13] The video of Fox's deposition subsequently went viral.[14][15][16][17] In a widely shared clip from the deposition, Fox was asked if he agreed with ChatGPT's flagging of a documentary about Jewish slave labor during the Holocaust, responding "It's a Jewish — specifically focused on Jewish culture and amplifying the marginalized voices of the females in that culture. It's inherently related to D.E.I. for that reason."[16]

According to a March 13, 2026 filing, the US government asked that the videos be removed "from the internet due to concerns that the publication of the videos could subject the witnesses and their family members to undue harassment and reputational harm," adding "Unfortunately, that risk has now materialized—at least one witness has been subjected to significant harassment, including death threats. Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Court enter the requested order as soon as possible to minimize the risk of additional harm to the witnesses and their families."[18][19]

On March 13, 2026, judge Colleen McMahon of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered the viral videos of Fox and Cavanaugh's depositions to be taken down, ordering the scholarly groups "take any and all possible steps to claw back” the videos.[16][18][20]

References

  1. ^ a b Schuessler, Jennifer (2026-03-07). "When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  2. ^ Schiffer, Zoë. "Photos: Here Are the Piles of Used Bedding and Children's Play Sets Left Near DOGE's Old Offices". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  3. ^ NBC News (2026-03-15). Former DOGE staffers’ depositions go viral. Retrieved 2026-03-17 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ Custer, Sara. "How DOGE Gutted the NEH in 22 Days". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  5. ^ Asher-Schapiro, Avi; Bing, Christopher; Waldman, Annie; Murphy, Brett; Kroll, Andy; Elliott, Justin; Berg, Kirsten; Turton, William; Rotella, Sebastian (2025-02-06). "Elon Musk's Demolition Crew". ProPublica. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  6. ^ Bond, Shannon (2025-05-20). "DOGE has tried to embed beyond the executive branch. Some targets have pushed back". NPR. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  7. ^ Demirjian, Karoun; Srivastava, Maansi (2025-03-06). "Marshals Escort DOGE Team Into African Aid Agency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  8. ^ Iafolla, Robert (2025-04-22). "Labor Board's DOGE Detailees Connected to Agency Take Downs". Bloomberg Law News. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  9. ^ a b c DOGE staffer who flagged grants for ‘DEI’ struggles with definition. The Independent. 2026-03-11. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  10. ^ Mikkelsen, Emily (2026-03-13). "DOGE canceled High Point Museum grant for HVAC systems after ChatGPT flagged it as DEI, lawsuit alleges". Fox 8. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  11. ^ American Historical Association. "Major Update in our NEH Lawsuit - AHA" (Press release). self-published. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  12. ^ Lapin, Andrew (2026-03-10). "Lawsuit says DOGE used ChatGPT to tag Jewish-themed humanities grants as 'DEI' before canceling them". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  13. ^ Andrew Lapin/JTA (2026-03-10). "DOGE sued for canceling Jewish humanities grants over 'DEI'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  14. ^ WUSA9 (2026-03-13). DOGE employee struggles to answer what DEI is. Retrieved 2026-03-13 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Binder, Matt (2026-03-13). "Former DOGE employees give an inside look at the Elon Musk-led agency". Mashable. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  16. ^ a b c Weiser, Benjamin; Schuessler, Jennifer (2026-03-13). "After DOGE Deposition Videos Go Viral, Judge Orders Them Taken Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-13.
  17. ^ Cox, Joseph (2026-03-12). "I Watched 6 Hours of DOGE Bro Testimony. Here's What They Had to Say For Themselves". 404 Media. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  18. ^ a b Cox, Joseph (2026-03-14). "DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery". 404 Media. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  19. ^ "DOGE Takedown 1". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  20. ^ Rogelberg, Sasha. "'No, we didn't': DOGE staffers admit Elon Musk's cost-cutting agency failed to reduce the federal deficit". Fortune. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
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