A federal judge in New York rejected a legal challenge to the composition of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. The lawsuit, filed by an interfaith coalition including the Interfaith Alliance and Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh organizations, contested the commission’s predominantly conservative Christian membership alongside a single Orthodox Jewish rabbi.
The plaintiffs argued the commission lacked the ideological and religious balance required by federal law governing advisory commissions. They expressed concern that several commissioners had publicly questioned the principle of church-state separation and promoted the characterization of America as a Judeo-Christian nation. When the commission released a draft report in June, critics pointed to its challenge to contemporary understandings of church-state separation as evidence supporting their concerns about the panel’s ideological direction.
Judge John P. Cronan ruled that while federal law requires advisory commissions to maintain balanced viewpoints, it does not mandate specific methods for achieving such balance. Cronan stated that the president possesses broad discretionary authority in selecting commission members. The judge noted the commission includes both clergy and lay members and contains adherents of at least five different religions, counting the Jewish member and representatives of various Christian denominations.
Cronan also determined that because Trump’s executive order establishing the commission explicitly rejected the notion of religious liberty conflicting with civil rights, the president was not obligated to appoint members who disagreed with that foundational principle. The Interfaith Alliance characterized the dismissal as ignoring the commission’s narrow religious and ideological perspective, stating members prioritize certain religious groups over others. The organization indicated its intention to continue advocating for what it describes as authentic religious freedom.
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