Court upholds Trump control over religious liberty commission

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the makeup of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, ruling the administration holds broad authority to select members despite legal requirements that federal advisory bodies reflect balanced representation.

Judge John P. Cronan of the U.S. District Court in New York found that while federal law requires advisory commissions to balance viewpoints, it sets no specific standard for achieving that balance, leaving the president significant discretion over appointments.

The suit was brought by the Interfaith Alliance alongside Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh organizations, which argued the panel was dominated by conservative Christians — including members who had questioned church-state separation and promoted a view of the United States as fundamentally rooted in Judeo-Christian principles.

They pointed to a draft report the commission released in June that questioned modern interpretations of the separation between religion and government and urged closer cooperation between religious institutions and public authorities.

Cronan rejected the claim that the panel failed the legal diversity requirement, noting it includes members from multiple Christian traditions and a Jewish member, along with clergy and non-clergy, and concluding the law did not require appointing members who opposed the commission’s stated purpose.

Because the executive order that created it defined religious liberty as compatible with civil rights protections, he found, the administration was not obliged to include members who rejected that framing.

The ruling lets the commission continue operating but leaves the underlying dispute open.

The Interfaith Alliance criticized the decision as endorsing a narrow ideological viewpoint rather than genuine pluralism, and said it would keep opposing what it sees as religious favoritism.