White House Religious Liberty Commission holds final hearing

WASHINGTON—For its seventh and final hearing on Monday, the White House Religious Liberty Commission focused on the legal concept of the separation of church and state and the role of religious liberty to the country’s founding during a nearly five-hour event at the Museum of the Bible. Since June 2025, the panel has convened periodic hearings featuring witnesses who testified about alleged violations of their religious liberties by the federal government. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the chair of the commission, on Monday called the separation of church and state one of the greatest lies told to the country.

What happens next? The commission is expected to write and deliver a final report to President Donald Trump by May, the one-year anniversary of the group’s creation. On Monday, commission members previewed some recommendations. First Liberty Institute president and CEO Kelly Shackelford recommended that the president only nominate judges who have a history of taking up difficult cases. He also suggested that the Internal Revenue Service issue a small fine against a church for discussing politics from the pulpit in order to trigger a court case on the merits of the Johnson Amendment, a rule that penalizes nonprofits for addressing politics. Shackelford opposes the amendment, which is rarely enforced. Last year, the IRS announced a new policy that it would not enforce the amendment. White House Faith Office head Paula White-Cain said she wanted to recommend ways to streamline grants for religious nonprofits. Popular author Eric Metaxas said he wanted to find ways to teach children in schools about religious liberty and that the concept originates only in Christianity. Although the commission has heard from witnesses of several faiths, Metaxas said not all faiths are equal and that the United States was founded only on values found in the Bible. Patrick also said that he wanted to write a letter to Trump requesting that the commission be extended so that it could convene if future religious liberty issues arise.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s report on Trump sharing a letter he received from Franklin Graham that explained the gospel.