The White House Religious Liberty Commission has released a report recommending a series of government actions to fortify religious liberty in the U.S. The 200-page final report released to the Oval Office June 26 recounts the stories of more than 100 people who have witnessed or experienced religious freedom infringements.
The report emerged from the launch of a religious liberty commission, which was established through a May 2025 executive order from President Trump.
The stories, collected from seven hearings held by the commission, came from parents, students, school teachers, military chaplains, military service members and health care workers, as well as private sector employees and religious institution leaders.
Referring to the witnesses, Commissioner Franklin Graham said that there is “a thread that runs through all … these [testimonies], and that is the thread of what’s right and having the guts to stand for what’s right.”
The report said the witnesses’ “commitment to stand by their beliefs” has played a “consequential role in preserving religious liberty for all Americans.”
“Although their circumstances differed, their stories shared a common theme,” the report said. “Far too often in our national life, religion is treated not as a protected and valued contribution to public life, but as a problem or annoyance to be managed, restricted, or sidelined.”
The report presents 12 comprehensive recommendations for preserving American religious freedom, including repealing the Johnson Amendment, a law established in the 1950s that aims to prevent religious nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing political candidates; creating hotlines or online portals for students, teachers and health care workers in which they can report religious discrimination violations; and ordering the Department of War to streamline and improve the process for religious accommodations.
The report also recommends nominating federal judges who respect constitutional religious freedom guarantees and creating a Department of Justice (DOJ) task force centered on tracking and prioritizing litigation to defend religious freedom. Another proposal was educating students, parents, teachers, school administrators, religious leaders, religious institutions, healthcare workers and military service members about their religious rights through DOJ, Health and Human Services and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-issued posters. The report also issues suggestions for combating antisemitism.
“Religious liberty in the United States has long been understood as more than a protection against government prohibition,” the report said. “It has also depended on the ability of individuals to participate fully in society without being excluded from essential services, employment, or public life because of their faith. When access to those spheres becomes conditional, the exercise of that liberty becomes more difficult in practice.”
Commissioner Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the law firm First Liberty Institute, expressed his gratitude for the efforts to preserve religious freedom.
“We are delivering recommendations to improve religious freedom for all Americans nationwide, and we have a president of action,” Shackelford said in a press release. “This is a great gift to every American, and it’s especially appropriate on the 250th birthday of our country.”
