Politics
Records show DOGE affiliate sought University of Chicago credit for HUD AI work
Internal communications obtained by a watchdog reveal an undergraduate working on federal regulatory rescission attempted to arrange academic credits for his project.
The short version
- Christopher Sweet, an undergraduate affiliate with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) assigned to HUD, sought three college credits from the University of Chicago for developing an AI tool aimed at rescinding regulations.
- Internal emails obtained via a public records request show fellow affiliate Scott Langmack drafted course outlines for the proposed independent study using ChatGPT.
- While Sweet completed his economics degree in June 2026, it remains unknown whether the University of Chicago accepted the proposal or granted credits toward his graduation.
Key facts
- Records obtained by the legal nonprofit Democracy Forward show DOGE affiliate Christopher Sweet sought college credit from the University of Chicago for his work at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.[Wired]
- Sweet worked at HUD starting in spring 2025 to develop SweetRex, an AI tool designed to analyze agency regulations and identify rules and contracts for rescission.[Wired]
- DOGE affiliate Scott Langmack drafted course outlines using ChatGPT to frame Sweet's government assignments as graduate-level research across four potential courses.[Wired]
- Sweet graduated from the University of Chicago in June 2026 with an economics degree.[Wired]
What remains uncertain
- It is not clear whether the University of Chicago approved the independent study proposal or if any credits from the DOGE project were applied toward Sweet's degree.[Wired]