A Trump-backed Religious Liberty Commission released its draft report on June 26 after a series of Washington hearings, setting off fierce debate over parents’ rights, school choice, antisemitism concerns, and whether the effort could tilt church-state boundar
By the time the commissioners returned to Washington on June 26, the draft report on religious liberty was already a live wire.
That morning. the Department of Justice released the Religious Liberty Commission’s draft report following a run of hearings where commissioners and witnesses argued over issues ranging from antisemitism to religious freedom in public education—and over what critics call the weaponization of the law against Christians under former administrations. The draft is now set against a hard deadline set when the commission was created in 2025: a final report due by July 4. 2026.
The language in the draft was framed as a response to what it described as a persistent national habit of sidelining religion rather than protecting it as part of public life. “Although their circumstances differed. their stories shared a common theme: 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 said.
The commission’s draft also lays out specific recommendations that reflect the White House’s stated priorities for the project—particularly parental rights in religious education and school choice. The White House previously said the report would highlight “parental rights in religious education. school choice. conscience protections. attacks on houses of worship. free speech for religious entities and institutional autonomy.”.
Among the recommendations in the draft are steps aimed at the school system. including establishing a hotline or online portal for public school teachers and faculty to report perceived violations of religious liberty. The draft also calls for establishing a Parental Rights Task Force between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services.
It does not stop at classrooms.
The draft urges “guarantee faith-based institutions an equal opportunity to participate on an equal basis in funding opportunities without requiring them to renounce their religious identity. ” and it calls for “issue guidance that religious discrimination in federal funding programs is unconstitutional.” It also seeks a “robust and universal system of school choice where funding follows the child” so families enjoy constitutional guarantees of religious liberty and parental rights regardless of socio-economic status.
In the military. the draft recommends that the Department of War update and disseminate religious liberty training for military leaders and JAG officers. It also asks that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act remain fully applicable in the military. that Obama and Biden-era restrictions on religious practice and expression be reversed. and that “spiritual fitness” be elevated in military readiness.
For health care workers, the draft calls to “protect religious healthcare workers from being coerced to participate in procedures that violate their religious beliefs” by expanding Church Amendments coverage and providing a private right of action for violations.
And on employment and civil rights enforcement. the draft recommends that federal Offices of Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission improve Title VI and Title VII enforcement against religious discrimination. “including anti-Semitism.” It proposes an expedited timeline for investigation and prosecution of credible allegations. and it says future federal funding should be tied to prompt remediation when appropriate.
These recommendations arrived alongside a moment critics say underscores the political stakes: commissioners presented the report to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on June 26.
Interfaith Alliance, a multifaith group that has long criticized the commission, called the draft evidence of a deeper political tilt. In a June 26 news release. it accused the report of reflecting a “narrow. Christian nationalist worldview of the illegitimate commission. made up entirely of ideologically aligned Christians and one Orthodox Jew.”.
Interfaith Alliance president and CEO, the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, said the draft fails to represent religious diversity and tolerance for all faiths. “A betrayal of the original intention of the promise of religious freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment. 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. ” Raushenbush said.
That dispute has been simmering since the commission was created. The commission was established in 2025 through a May 2025 executive order saying Americans “need to be reacquainted with our nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats.” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was appointed as chairman, with Dr. Ben Carson as vice chair. The other members include the Rev. Franklin Graham and pastor Paula White, who leads the White House Faith Office.
The commission held public hearings at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Those sessions covered religious liberty in public education and antisemitism.
At one of its first hearings, in June 2025, several attendees walked out during then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s remarks. Bondi vowed to “preserve (religious freedom) against emerging threats” and asserted that the Trump administration’s view was that the federal government “became complicit in sheltering these threats. becoming the greatest threat itself.” Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons of Interfaith Alliance. who was among those who walked out. said Bondi’s comments were “very extreme. ” adding that it was “disturbing. but expected” to see the attorney general use her remarks “to just act aggrieved.”.
The commission’s controversy has also played out in court and within its own ranks. Interfaith Alliance’s lawsuit alleged the commission violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a law requiring such groups to be “fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented.”
Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the commission after the commission’s February hearing on antisemitism. In an interview published at the time. Prejean Boller alleged that her firing was retaliation for public statements about Israel that did not align with the Trump administration’s positions. Prejean Boller said Patrick told her. “Your job on this commission is to protect the president.” The White House. the Department of Justice and Patrick’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the matter at the time.
The fight over the draft report now has a clear public window. Members of the public can submit comments on the Religious Liberty Commission’s draft report through July 12.
While the commission lays out recommendations that emphasize school choice, conscience protections, and protections for religious institutions and workers, other groups are pushing a different framing of what “religious liberty for all” should look like.
On June 15. Interfaith Alliance joined the Center for American Progress. Americans United for Separation of Church and State. and the American Humanist Association to release their own report. titled “Religious Liberty for All: Celebrating This Founding Freedom at America 250.” That report said it reflects “diverse voices in an expression of interfaith solidarity and democratic responsibility” and it presents “a clear and compelling alternative to the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission.”.
The draft report is now moving into the period where the arguments—over parents’ rights. public education. antisemitism. and the role of religion in federal life—will be tested against public comments and the final report due on July 4. 2026. But the tension is already visible in the commission’s own design. its hearing history. and the way supporters and critics describe the same document.
Trump Religious Liberty Commission religious liberty church and state DOJ antisemitism school choice parental rights Interfaith Alliance Federal Advisory Committee Act Title VI Title VII Religious Freedom Restoration Act Church Amendments First Amendment Dan Patrick Ben Carson