Tracking Trump's executive orders: Religious Liberty Commission

Executive Order 14291: Establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission

Date Signed: May 1st, 2025

Key Provisions:

• This executive order establishes a commission of up to 14 presidential appointees and multiple advisory boards to advise the White House on various issues of religious liberty. The official appointees include 13 members: Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (Chair), Dr. Ben Carson, Ryan T. Anderson, Bishop Robert Barron, Carrie Prejean Boller, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Pastor Franklin Graham, Allyson Ho, Dr. Phil McGraw, Eric Metaxas, Kelly Shackelford, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and Pastor Paula White
• Members of the Commission will work on a comprehensive report about the foundation and meaning of religious liberty in the United States and will advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on the religious liberty policies of the United States.
• The Commission will focus on the following topics: “the First Amendment rights of pastors, religious leaders, houses of worship, faith-based institutions, and religious speakers; attacks across America on houses of worship of many religions; debanking of religious entities; the First Amendment rights of teachers, students, military chaplains, service members, employers, and employees; conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates; parents’ authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children, including the right to choose a religious education; permitting time for voluntary prayer and religious instruction at public schools; Government displays with religious imagery; and the right of all Americans to freely exercise their faith without fear or Government censorship or retaliation.”
• The Commission will conclude its work on July 4, 2026 to mark America’s 250th year anniversary.

Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:

• Interfaith Alliance is concerned that this executive order will use the commission to advance extreme right-wing policy goals. The list of topics to be considered by the commission include objectives that would actually undermine religious liberty, such as installing religious imagery in government spaces, or would distort religious liberty as a political tool to undermine access to reproductive health care, access to public education, and more. 
• The Religious Liberty Commission appears to only feature the perspectives of right-wing religious communities rather than the full diversity of American religious life. The White House has already named the members of the Commission, many of whom have explicit ties to Christian nationalism.
• Many of the Religious Liberty Commission’s stated objectives would undermine basic freedoms, including, ironically, the First Amendment right to religious liberty. 

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