Trump and Biden clash over the scope of religious liberty in U.S. policy

President Donald Trump quickly made religious liberty a hallmark of his administration, establishing a task force and a Religious Liberty Commission to counter perceived anti-Christian bias and to argue that faith should shape public conduct in areas like employment, education and health care. In contrast, President Joe Biden revived the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, positioning faith groups as collaborators on poverty relief and disaster response while maintaining that government must protect both religious belief and the civil rights of other groups, including LGBT individuals.

Constitutional law professor Josh Blackman explained that Trump’s view extends protection to religious actions, whereas Biden limits it to belief and balances it against broader anti-discrimination goals. The Trump administration’s report criticized Biden’s handling of issues such as abortion clinic protests, gender-identity policies, and the DOJ’s reading of the Bostock decision, claiming the government treats religion as a secondary concern.

Biden’s officials defended those policies as neutral applications of law, such as the FACE Act, intended to safeguard access to health facilities. Recent Supreme Court rulings have favored religious-liberty claims, a trend Trump allies attribute to the former president’s judicial appointments.