Trump commission condemns idea of church, state separation in hearing
Trump commission condemns idea of church, state separation in hearing
BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAYMon, April 13, 2026 at 10:31 PM UTC
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Trump commission condemns idea of church, state separation in hearing
Members of President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission criticized notions of a necessary separation between church and state at the group's final hearing in Washington, DC on April 13.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the commission's chairman, at one point called it the “biggest lie that’s been told in America since our founding.”
The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” but the term “separation of church and state” does not appear in the Constitution. President Thomas Jefferson popularized the phrase in the early 19th century.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State called Patrick's remarks "an attack on our democracy."
The separation of church and state "is an American original, something we should be proud of, fight for and cherish," said Rachel Laser, the organization's president and CEO.
Past commission hearings touched on topics including antisemitism and religious liberty in public education. A common theme across the hearings has been the commissioners’ view that the legal system was weaponized against people of faith, particularly Christians, under past administrations.
Trump established the commission through an executive order in May. It said the commission would end on July 4, 2026 – the 250th anniversary of American independence – unless the president extends it.
Civil rights activist: Religious liberty 'essential' to Greensboro sit-ins
Professor Helen Alvaré, who teaches law and religion at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law, was the first of numerous witnesses at the hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible.
She described religious liberty as an “objective good” for the country and asserted her view that there is “far more peace” than discord among faith groups in the United States. Government overreach of Americans’ religious practices has historically been the bigger problem, she said.
Alvaré applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s shift in recent years toward a broader application of the First Amendment’s free exercise clause, exemplified through a 2025 ruling in which the court sided with a group of Maryland parents who wanted to opt their children out of public school curriculum with LGBTQ+ themes.
The idea that public school teachers could override the religious instruction students were receiving at home in the name of the Constitution had “always bordered on the absurd,” she said.
There was a different tone later in the hearing toward state laws requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, which have been legally challenged by parents alleging that the displays amount to religious coercion. Patrick said more than 50% of the around 9,000 public schools in his state had implemented the displays.
Patrick at one point also touted Texas’s school voucher program that allows taxpayer funds to be used for tuition at private schools, many of which are religious; which he said received more than 250,000 applications for approximately 100,000 slots. A group of parents and schools sued the state over the program, alleging that it discriminated against Islamic private schools in violation of the First Amendment.
Addressing the commission was also Clarence Henderson, who participated in the Greensboro, North Carolina, sit-in that sparked a wider civil rights movement in the 1960s. Religious liberty was “essential” to the movement, he said.
“Churches were the meeting places, faith was the language, Scripture was the foundation,” Henderson said.
'A lot of work to do' before presenting report to Trump
Commissioners and witnesses also raised concerns about what they characterized as worrying trends and other developments related to religion in the country.
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Bishop Robert Barron lamented what he described as the negative implications of rising rates of religious disaffiliation.
“That’s dangerous for our democracy because people start forgetting, they don’t hear the story of the good Samaritan, they don’t hear about the Ten Commandments, they don’t hear the Beatitudes,” he said. “That affects our democracy, it’s not just a religious problem.”
Dr. Akshar Patel, who represented the Hindu organization BAPS, identified religious liberty as the means through which Hindu Americans can “flourish.”
At the same time, he was concerned by what he perceived as a society increasingly intolerant of religious – and specifically Hindu – beliefs. He referenced attacks on Hindu temples in recent years, saying an environment of “fear and uncertainty have become crippling for our community.”
“Mandirs (Hindu temples) that once felt like sanctuaries of peace and unity are now places where security is a concern,” Patel said. “Families who come to this country seeking freedom of religion are now worried about practicing their faith openly.”
Commissioner Phil McGraw, widely known as his television persona “Dr. Phil,” was similarly troubled by the circumstances of the New York-based Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, a group of nuns who operate a nursing facility in New York. They sued the state earlier in the month in part on First Amendment grounds, saying its law related to caring for transgender patients violates their Catholic beliefs.
The commission’s purpose is to “safeguard and promote America’s founding principle of religious freedom," according to the White House. It must present a comprehensive report on the foundations and current state of religious liberty in the United States to Trump by the end of its term.
Patrick said the commission had “a lot of work to do” before that presentation. There were suggestions during the hearing that the commission could be extended beyond the initial charter because of what commissioners described as its significance both to Trump and to the nation at large.
Numerous advocacy groups have accused the commission of promoting Christian nationalism instead of true religious liberty for all. That includes a multifaith group of organizations that sued the Trump administration, alleging that the commission had an illegal lack of religious and ideological diversity.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, echoed those sentiments after the commission's final hearing. It said the group "rebuked a foundational pillar of religious liberty: the separation of church and state."
Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the commission following its February hearing on antisemitism. In an interview with USA TODAY, she alleged that her firing was retaliation for her public statements about Israel that did not align with the Trump administration’s positions.
The commissioners present at the April 13 hearing, however, commended Trump for his efforts related to religious freedom.
“I believe this will be one of his greatest legacies at the end of the day,” Patrick said.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump commission condemns the separation of church and state
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