Trump-Vance Administration Commission Using Secretive Advisory Group to Promote Narrow and Exclusionary Understanding of Religious Liberty
New York, N.Y. – A multifaith coalition has united to file a lawsuit challenging the unlawful creation of the Trump-Vance administration’s so-called Religious Liberty Commission, pointing to violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the unbalanced and biased viewpoints assembled for the panel. The lawsuit comes as the commission meets today at the Museum of the Bible.
The commission was established by Executive Order 14291 on May 1, 2025. Despite the guidelines set by law through FACA, the commission’s membership consists exclusively of Christians, except for one Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, all of whom collectively represent the narrow perspective that America was founded as a “Judeo-Christian” nation and must be guided by Biblical principles. No members of the commission represent other minority religions, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Sikhism, or non-religious Americans, and the commission’s meetings have expressly adopted and promoted purportedly Judeo-Christian ideals and viewpoints, with members routinely expressing their views during meetings that the United States is a Judeo-Christian or Christian nation.
The legal challenge is being brought by Interfaith Alliance, Muslims For Progressive Values, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Hindus For Human Rights. It asks that the court declare that the commission was created and administered in violation of federal law, to require the disclosure of documents that should already be public, and to ensure that any recommendations produced by this body are clearly identified as coming from an unlawfully constituted commission. The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward and Americans United for Separation of Church and State in the matter.
“Religious freedom for some is religious freedom for none,” said Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. “The government has no right to pick and choose which religious beliefs to promote, and which to marginalize. The Trump administration has failed to uphold our country’s proud religious freedom tradition, and we will hold them accountable. Today’s lawsuit is our recommitment to fight for religious liberty for all with every tool available to us.”
“As a Muslim American organization, we have seen first hand how elevating a singular religion above others, especially in a country as religiously diverse as the United States, leads to the oppression and possible persecution of minority faiths,” said Ani Zonneveld, President and Founder of Muslims for Progressive Values. “As Americans, we must work together so that no form of religious supremacy cements itself in our country.”
“Religious freedom and religious liberty for all are foundational American values. America thrives when all religious traditions are respected and diverse perspectives considered in the public realm. As Americans, we must work together to ensure these values are upheld,” said Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
“Religious liberty means religious liberty for everyone, not just one faith community. By stacking this Religious Liberty Commission with a narrow set of voices and hiding the commission’s work from the public eye, the Trump administration is evading the transparency and balance that federal law requires. Hindus for Human Rights is proud to stand with our multifaith partners to defend a pluralistic democracy where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and nonreligious people all belong as equals,” said Ria Chakrabarty, Senior Policy Director of Hindus for Human Rights.
Congress enacted FACA in 1972 to curb the executive branch’s reliance on secretive and biased advisory committees, and the law establishes strict requirements for the creation and conduct of committees that are intended to influence national policy. Every advisory committee must meet public transparency requirements, be in the public interest, be fairly balanced among competing points of view, and be structured to avoid inappropriate influence by special interests.
“Since the nation’s founding, the values of religious liberty and pluralism have been central to the American identity. These values are now under accelerated attack. The Trump-Vance administration’s Religious Liberty Commission is not about religious liberty, it is about pursuing a culture of Christian Nationalism that seeks to divide and isolate people across our nation,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “The fatally flawed way this commission was assembled makes clear that the outcome isn’t just un-American, it’s against the law. Inspired by this diverse multifaith coalition of plaintiffs and their commitment to true religious liberty, we will continue to use every legal tool available to protect the American people and the best of our nation’s values.”
“The Religious Liberty Commission isn’t about protecting religious liberty for all; it’s about rejecting our nation’s religious diversity and prioritizing one narrow set of conservative ‘Judeo-Christian’ beliefs,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “The commission’s public meetings – most of which have been held at the Museum of the Bible and have been dominated by a very specific brand of Christian faith, Christian prayers, and predominantly Christian speakers – are a vivid example of this favoritism. The commission’s true purpose and operations can’t be squared with America’s constitutional promise of church-state separation.”
The case before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is Interfaith Alliance et al. v.Trump et al. The legal team on this case includes Anna Deffebach, Robin Thurston, and Ayesha Khan from Democracy Forward and Jenny Samuels from Americans United.
Read today’s filing here.
*Perryman also serves as a member of the Board of Interfaith Alliance.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
Founded in 1947, Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a religious freedom advocacy organization that educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
