NEW YORK — Nearly a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty (RLC), the body now faces a federal lawsuit challenging both its structure and its operations.
On May 1, 2025, Trump established the commission and, in doing so, publicly questioned one of the central doctrines of American constitutional law: “The separation [of church and state], I don’t know — is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
The answer to his question may soon come from a federal judge.
A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges that the RLC was created and is being operated in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the federal “sunshine law” that governs presidential advisory bodies. The suit names Trump in his official capacity, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, the Department of Justice, the Religious Liberty Commission, and its designated federal officer, Mary Margaret Bush.
The inaugural meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C on June 16, 2025. | Image via YouTube/ The Justice Department
The plaintiffs — Interfaith Alliance and its president, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush; Muslims for Progressive Values; the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF); and Hindus for Human Rights — argue that the commission is unlawfully imbalanced and lacks required transparency. They are being represented by Democracy Forward and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU).
After the RLC was created, Trump appointed multiple individuals to the commission and its advisory boards. As The Wild Hunt previously reported in June 2025, no members explicitly represent Pagan, Wiccan, Indigenous, Hindu, or secular humanist traditions. Only one identifiable non-Christian, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, serves on the commission. Women, particularly cis and trans women of color, are also notably underrepresented.
Several appointees are affiliated with conservative Christian legal and policy organizations, including Kristen Waggoner and Ryan Tucker of Alliance Defending Freedom. Representatives connected to The Heritage Foundation and institutions promoting a “Christian founding” narrative are also among those now on the RLC.
At the time of the commission’s first meeting, AU warned that its composition signaled a troubling direction. “This commission makes a mockery of religious freedom,” AU President Rachel Laser said last June. “It was created to advance the myth that the United States was founded for white Christians and that our laws and policies must continue to favor their beliefs.”
President Donald J. Trump is applauded by gathered religious leaders, Thursday, May 4, 2017, as he displays his signature on the Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen).
Now in its fifth meeting, the RLC’s agenda has become clearer, and the newly filed lawsuit advances two primary legal claims under FACA.
First, the plaintiffs argue that the commission’s membership is not “fairly balanced,” as federal law requires. They contend that the body is composed almost entirely of Christians, with one Jewish member, and excludes representatives from major religious traditions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. Interfaith voices and those who advocate for a robust separation of church and state are also absent. According to the complaint, this lack of viewpoint diversity makes the commission structurally incapable of fulfilling its mandate to promote religious pluralism and advise on religious liberty “for all Americans.”
Second, the plaintiffs allege that the commission has failed to meet FACA’s transparency requirements. They claim that agendas, transcripts, witness statements, and supporting materials have not been released in a timely manner, limiting meaningful public participation. The suit also notes that four of the commission’s five meetings have been held at the Museum of the Bible, an explicitly Christian institution, and that proceedings have included Christian prayers.
The Trump administration has maintained that the commission’s purpose is to “secure and promote religious liberty for Americans of all Faiths.” But critics argue that the body’s composition and operations tell a different story.
“The Religious Liberty Commission isn’t about protecting religious liberty for all; it’s about rejecting our nation’s religious diversity and prioritizing one narrow set of conservative ‘Judeo-Christian’ beliefs,” Rachel Laser said in a statement. “The commission’s public meetings – most of which have been held at the Museum of the Bible and have been dominated by a very specific brand of Christian faith, Christian prayers, and predominantly Christian speakers – are a vivid example of this favoritism. The commission’s true purpose and operations can’t be squared with America’s constitutional promise of church-state separation.”
The lawsuit was filed by Americans United and Democracy Forward on behalf of the plaintiff organizations. The complaint alleges that all commission members, except for one Orthodox Jewish rabbi, have publicly affirmed the belief that the United States was founded as a “Judeo-Christian nation.” It further alleges that members have promoted policies that elevate a narrow religious worldview in public life and have supported the use of religious liberty claims to justify discrimination against minority communities.
“Religious freedom for some is religious freedom for none,” said Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. “The government has no right to pick and choose which religious beliefs to promote, and which to marginalize. The Trump administration has failed to uphold our country’s proud religious freedom tradition, and we will hold them accountable. Today’s lawsuit is our recommitment to fight for religious liberty for all with every tool available to us.”
Ani Zonneveld, president and founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, emphasized the stakes for minority faith communities. “As a Muslim American organization, we have seen first hand how elevating a singular religion above others, especially in a country as religiously diverse as the United States, leads to the oppression and possible persecution of minority faiths,” she said. “As Americans, we must work together so that no form of religious supremacy cements itself in our country.”
Kiran Kaur Gill, executive director of SALDEF, framed the issue as foundational to democratic life. “Religious freedom and religious liberty for all are foundational American values. America thrives when all religious traditions are respected and diverse perspectives considered in the public realm. As Americans, we must work together to ensure these values are upheld.”
Ria Chakrabarty, senior policy director of Hindus for Human Rights, echoed that theme. “Religious liberty means religious liberty for everyone, not just one faith community. By stacking this Religious Liberty Commission with a narrow set of voices and hiding the commission’s work from the public eye, the Trump administration is evading the transparency and balance that federal law requires. Hindus for Human Rights is proud to stand with our multifaith partners to defend a pluralistic democracy where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and nonreligious people all belong as equals.”
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the commission unlawfully constituted, require the release of documents that should already be public, and state that any report or recommendations produced by the commission do not reflect the views of a lawfully constituted advisory committee.
The initial hearing has not been scheduled, and The Wild Hunt will continue to follow the story.
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