Trump executive order creates task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’ in federal government

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Trump executive order creates task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’ in federal government
Trump signed a new executive order on Thursday aimed at ‘eradicating anti-Christian bias’ and declaring that his administration ‘will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians.’

Feb 7, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at “eradicating anti-Christian” bias in government with a new task force to root out any remaining vestiges of the previous administration’s hostility to religion and faith-based values.

“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” the order reads. “The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms. My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”

To that end, it establishes a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose job will be to review all executive-branch agencies to “identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct”; seek input from outside individuals and groups affected by such conduct, and make recommendations for administrative actions, rule changes, or new legislation.

Trump had announced plans for the task force earlier in the day, at the National Prayer Breakfast. “The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies,” he said.

The Biden administration exhibited a pattern of hostility toward Christianity, especially as it intersected with issues of life and sexuality. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade inspired a wave of threats and vandalism against churches and pregnancy centers, yet the perpetrators mostly went unpunished, with former Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the supposed difficulty of gathering evidence. By contrast, the administration aggressively prosecuted numerous peaceful pro-life advocates for violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

In early 2023, a leaked memo from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claimed that what it called “Radical Traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology” was a potential motivator for “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” citing a report by far-left attack group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The FBI retracted that memo, which Garland later disavowed as “appalling,” but that was far from the end of concerns about religious intolerance within the federal law enforcement bureaucracy. In summer 2023, the House Judiciary Committee obtained documents revealing that, contrary to previous assurance, multiple FBI field offices were involved in spying on Catholic communities.

In his first weeks back in the White House, Trump took several actions to begin reversing his predecessor’s handiwork, including pardons for the 23 pro-life FACE Act detainees, strict new limits on future FACE Act use, and ending the prosecution of a whistleblower who exposed child mutilation practices at a Texas hospital.