U.S. Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), an Army veteran, has introduced the Military Chaplain Act of 2025. The bill defines the purpose, role, duties, and professional qualification requirements for military chaplains.
The legislation includes statutory protections ensuring that chaplain responsibilities and requirements "must be conducted in a manner consistent with the chaplain's sincerely held religious beliefs and tenets of their religious endorsing organization."
That language in the bill is important because military chaplains enter the armed forces with the training and endorsement of a religious denomination, such as the Assembly of God or the Southern Baptist Convention. That means the chaplains adhere to the tenets of that denomination while in uniform.
Some of the chaplains’ orthodox beliefs, such as upholding the biblical definition of marriage, have conflicted with the rainbow flag-waving Pentagon going back to the Obama administration.
Erin Smith, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute, says the law firm happily supports Rep. Self’s bill after representing numerous military chaplains to defend their constitutional rights.
“We want to take advantage of the fact that we have President Trump in office, and we have Republican members within the House and the Senate, that want to protect the religious liberty of chaplains,” she tells AFN.
Smith says the Military Chaplain Act of 2025 describes the duties of military chaplains as well as states their right to perform those duties in line with their sincerely held religious beliefs.
“This has been needed for a long time,” she says. “I think it accomplishes a lot of great things, and it will really help to protect the chaplaincy in the military for generations to come."
Rep. Self introduced the chaplain bill after retiring from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. His 25-year career included Airborne and Special Forces assignments that took him to Europe and the Middle East, where he said he learned to appreciate the counsel of a chaplain.
In a statement about his bill, Rep. Self said military chaplains should be able to serve their country in uniform “without sacrificing their God-given freedoms.”
