Task force aiming to eliminate anti-Christian bias meets at Justice Department

Attorney General Pam Bondi hosted the inaugural meeting of the task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias within the federal government, according to a Tuesday statement from the Department of Justice. President Donald Trump established the task force in an early February executive order and named a number of presidential cabinet members to the team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

What happened during the meeting? The group heard testimony from several witnesses who shared accounts of alleged religious discrimination under the Biden administration.

• Patrick Henry College's founding president Michael Farris spoke on behalf of Cornerstone Church senior pastor Gary Hamrick, describing how Biden’s IRS investigated the church for alleged violations.

• Liberty University’s provost and chief academic officer Scott Hicks alleged that the former administration targeted the school with fines because of the school’s Christian worldview.

• Navy SEAL Phil Mendes described being relieved from duty under Biden for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons the Department of Defense refused to honor.

Members of the task force also shared instances from their agencies in which Christians were allegedly punished unfairly for their beliefs, and discussed how those experiences would shape their departments going forward.

• FBI Director Kash Patel promised to continue rooting out any anti-Christian bias within the department that could wrongly influence investigations and other decisions.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio described bias against employees for opposing the COVID-19 vaccine, failing to support LGBT ideology, or even homeschooling their children. He also took issue with what he characterized as the Biden administration’s unequal treatment of Christian holidays at American embassies when compared with foreign holidays like Ramadan or Losar.

• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared how Biden ordered a religious hospital to extinguish its sanctuary candle or lose the ability to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. He also took issue with several rules enacted under the previous administration that make it more difficult for Christians to foster children.

• Secretary of Education Linda McMahon highlighted the firings of Oregon teachers who shared solutions for teachers struggling to teach liberal ideas on sexuality without violating their religious convictions. She also discussed a case in New York where teachers allegedly violated a mother’s religious convictions by treating her middle school daughter as a boy behind her back.

• Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender alleged that the Biden administration financially surveilled Christian and pro-life organizations, even naming some as hate groups.