FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2026
CONTACT: Court Beyer, cbeyer@americanhumanist.org
Trump Religious Liberty Commission Report Provides Pathway to Christian Nationalism
“Appalling and un-American to its core”
WASHINGTON – Late Friday, the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission, a group established in 2025 to “offer diverse perspectives on how the Federal Government can defend religious liberty for all Americans,” released its draft report, which outlines a plan to erode foundational First Amendment protections for the American people.
Among other recommendations, the Trump administration’s report urges the government to repeal the Johnson Amendment – the provision that prevents houses of worship from engaging in political activities, as well as nominate federal judges hostile to the idea of church-state separation.
Rachel Deitch, Policy and Political Director for the American Humanist Association provided the following statement in response: “This report is appalling and un-American to its core. The Trump Administration is no longer being coy about its plan to do away with the Establishment Clause and remake the U.S. Government in its Christian Nationalist image. This is a direct escalation in the series of attacks this administration has made against our nation’s foundational values of religious freedom and church-state separation.”
Earlier this month, the American Humanist Association, in coalition with Center for American Progress (CAP), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Interfaith Alliance, released a report – penned by a diverse, inclusive group of leaders, on what religious liberty should look like on the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, as a prebuttal to the Religious Liberty Commission’s then-forthcoming report.
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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.