In response to Donald Trump's call for a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias within the federal government, Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Indiana) says the air is back in the room.
The president announced the new initiative at a Thursday prayer breakfast in Washington, and he signed the executive order later in in the day.
"My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians," the order states.
"It's like we can breathe again, and people can actually relax," Stutzman said on Washington Watch Thursday. "The tension that has been created by the previous Democrat administration was that you couldn't even voice your opinion without being canceled."
A product of the current climate, the order specifically mentions Christians but extends to other faiths as well.
Still, not everyone enjoys the new air.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has accused Trump of using the Department of Justice to mute the voices of non-believers – this after Joe Biden used it to target pro-life activists, many of them Christians, for their demonstrations at abortion clinics.
It is also the same DOJ that, under the previous president, issued an FBI memo asserting that "radical-traditionalist Catholics" were domestic-terrorism threats and suggested infiltrating Catholic churches as a "threat-mitigation," Trump's EO notes.
"In this atmosphere of anti-Christian government, hostility and vandalism against Christian churches and places of worship surged, with the number of such identified acts in 2023 exceeding by more than eight times the number from 2018," the order continues. "Catholic churches and institutions have been aggressively targeted with hundreds of acts of hostility, violence, and vandalism."
This is the DOJ Trump will now turn on non-believers, according to FFRF.
"Christianity is not under attack in this country — if anything, it enjoys overwhelming privilege," claims FFRF co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "We stand ready to fight back against this attack on our secular democracy and the rights of nonbelievers and others."
"That's not what we do," Stutzman told show host Tony Perkins.
Jews suffering too
Antisemitism, on the rise already, has grown rapidly during the Israel-Hamas war.
A Brandeis University study found that rates of hostility toward Jews doubled from 2016 to 2023.
A survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse found that 73% of Jewish college students experienced or witnessed antisemitism during the 2023-2024 school year.
"Freedom of religion is so important," Stutzman asserted. "It's important that every person of faith has the opportunity – or even the person of no faith – to speak freely about it. Then each person can make up their mind as to what they choose to believe."
The anti-bias task force will originate from within the DOJ. Newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi will head a far-ranging group that includes all cabinet secretaries and representatives from numerous other relevant departments and agencies.
"This isn't just for the Christian faith," Stutzman told Perkins. "The president has said we're going to protect those of the Jewish faith from the antisemitism we’ve seen growing across the country on college campuses that has just been appalling."
President Trump's order states that his administration will ensure Americans are free to practice their faith in peace.
