Yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi convened the first meeting of the Department of Justice’s Task Force To Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in the federal government. President Donald Trump established the task force in a February executive order directing 16 federal agencies to identify and rectify “any conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians.” 

The order appointed Bondi to lead the task force and to put an end to the Biden administration’s “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians” and its ignoring of violent anti-Christian offenses.

Bondi said in her opening remarks, “The FBI spied on traditional Catholics in their parishes. President Biden declared Easter Sunday to be Transgender Day of Visibility. No longer. Vandalism against churches was eight times higher in 2023 than it was in 2018. And at President Trump's directive, we ended those abuses at the Department of Justice on day one. We dropped three ongoing cases against pro-lifers and redefined the FACE Act [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act] to ensure that abuse would not continue and that American tax dollars were not used to support the weaponization of our legal system to target Christians.”

The task force is required to deliver three reports to President Trump over the first half of his administration, including an initial report after 120 days of its creation, another after one year, and a final report upon completion of its work. The order stipulates that the task force will be disbanded after two years unless extended by the president.

Attending the meeting were many top cabinet members, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and many more. 

According to a DOJ press release, many task force members highlighted specific examples from within their agencies of how the previous administration “unfairly and harshly punished Christian Americans for their religious beliefs.” 

• FBI Director Kash Patel discussed the agency’s anti-Catholic memo and “reiterated the FBI’s commitment to rooting out any anti-Christian bias that could be directing decisions or investigations.”

• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed how his agency under previous leadership ordered St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma to extinguish its sanctuary candle or lose coverage from Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He also noted previous rules that made it harder for Christians to become foster parents.

• Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender discussed financial surveillance including the “previous removal of certain tax classifications of Christian and pro-life organizations by the IRS,” as well as the Treasury Department’s lack of protection of these organizations from debanking and identification of some pro-Christian groups as “hate groups.”

• Director of the Domestic Policy Council Vince Haley discussed how the previous council helped lead “the Biden Administration’s efforts to push radical and anti-Christian gender ideology on kids in classrooms, foster care, sports, and healthcare.”

In addition, three Christian Americans testified at the meeting on how they had been unfairly targeted for their religious beliefs. 

• Michael Farris, First Amendment Litigator and Founding President of Patrick Henry College and General Counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters, “spoke on behalf of Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick to discuss how Cornerstone Church was under investigation and charged by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for so-called Johnson Amendment violations.

• Dr. Scott Hicks, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Liberty University “described how Liberty University and Grand Canyon University were singled out by the Biden Administration for fines due to the schools’ Christian worldview.” 

• Navy Seal Phil Mendes “was relieved of duty during the Biden Administration for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious exemption requests that were denied by the Department of Defense.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The Trump administration has taken swift action to turn the federal government from a weapon against people of faith into a shield for religious liberty. The Task Force To Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias is ending the government’s previous and unprecedented hostility toward Christians, which included jailing peaceful pro-life advocates while ignoring violence against churches and faith-based organizations. America needs to be a beacon of religious liberty where people are free to live according to their faith.”