(RNS) — Almost immediately after the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission released its draft 224-page report Friday (June 26), several faith and civic leaders responded with criticism.
“The report and the commission behind it fail to represent and uplift the importance of religious diversity and tolerance for all faiths in our country — not just a special, chosen few,” the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, said in a statement.
The report is “not a blueprint for protecting religious freedom. It is a roadmap for expanding religious privilege,” said Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Steven Emmert in a statement.
The 12-member advisory commission, established by executive order in May 2025, is made up of 11 Christians, many of them allies of President Donald Trump, and one Orthodox Jew. Tasked with publishing a report on the history and state of religious liberty, the commission has held hearings in which witnesses and members spoke about religious intolerance and intimidation, primarily faced by Christians. Critics have long attacked the commission for being partisan and ignoring issues such as Islamophobia, and a lawsuit filed by groups representing interfaith, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu organizations that challenges the commission’s composition is pending.
The report set forward dozens of legal and policy recommendations, including establishing a religious liberty violation hotline, forming a Department of Justice religious liberty task force, expanding funding for school choice and appointing judges with a proven commitment to religious liberty.
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