Last Thursday, on the National Day of Prayer 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing the Commission to safeguard and promote religious freedom. The Commission is tasked with producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, strategies to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism, current threats to religious liberty, and strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations, the EO states.
Parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections and free speech for religious entities will be among the Commission’s key areas of focus. Religious leaders, lay leaders and legal experts will provide guidance as “subcomponents” of the committee.
“There just seems to be a new spirit” in support of religious freedom, GOP Rep. Mark Harris, a former pastor who now represents North Carolina’s eighth congressional district, said on Washington Watch Friday.
Harris attended the Day of Prayer event at which Trump announced the Commission.
“A lot of leaders from the Christian community and really all faith communities, [including] the rabbi who spoke … were all there recognizing that this president is serious about supporting religious liberty and religious freedom in this country,” Harris told show host Jody Hice.
Efforts on behalf of religious liberty
Trump in early February announced the creation of a task force to “eradiate” anti-Christian bias that had become prevalent under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The House Judiciary Committee in 2023 announced its findings that the FBI had used an informant on at least one occasion to infiltrate a local Catholic church. Records showed there were also efforts to develop sources within the Catholic diocese on the pretext of combatting what the FBI had labeled as “domestic terrorism.”
The Biden administration also targeted pro-life activists, many of them Christians, under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in efforts to advance abortion.
In response, Trump early in his second term pardoned 23 protesters arrested for FACE Act violations during Biden’s presidency.
In addition, Republicans Chip Roy in the House and Mike Lee in the Senate have introduced legislation to repeal the FACE Act. Department of Justice data compiled by Roy’s staff shows that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions from 1994-2024 were against pro-life Americans.
Not all of Trump’s efforts at pro-faith initiatives – such as Paula White’s appointment as leader of the faith office – have been met with great support from the community of believers. Evangelical conservatives such as Dr. Albert Mohler and Dr. John MacArthur – even some left-leaning Christians (e.g., Russell Moore and Timothy George) – have expressed concerns about White’s beliefs or her association with controversial personalities.
Generally speaking, however, Trump’s efforts to support Christians in America are appreciated. This new Commission is the most recent example.
Some big faith names to work with Commission
A few members will include Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick; Ben Carson, the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in Trump’s first term; and Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.
“The president himself is not particularly religious, though he’s leaned into his evangelical base,” wrote Axios, a left-leaning media outlet according to AllSides.com.
Harris believes leaning into the base now can offset the harmful effects Christians faced when Biden’s FBI leaned away from it.
“I just think the whole commission idea is trying to, again, let people know around the world that in the United States of America, folks are free to live and work in a way that is consistent with their faith, and the government is not going to be coming in and trying to restrict that,” Harris explained.
