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senior officials and federal agencies donald trump administration Use official government social media accounts to share an explicit religious message and proclaim Jesus as the nation’s savior Christmas periodprompting warnings from First Amendment advocates about a serious breach of the firewall of church and state.
Department of Homeland Security shared Two videos on X titled “The Nativity of Christ!”
other postal An 85-second video released by the agency, titled “We are blessed to share a country and a savior,” features a quick edit of images of an American Christmas through a box filter.
The White House shared both pieces of information.
“Merry Christmas to everyone. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote “The joyful message of Christmas is the hope of eternal life through Christ.”
in video Post to XAgriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asserted, “The best of the American spirit… flows from that first Christmas, when God gave us the greatest gift of all: the gift of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Education Minister Linda McMahon hope “You and your family are filled with everlasting memories as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.”
The official account of the U.S. Department of Labor “Let the Earth Welcome Her King” wrote.
Their messages and other posts on government accounts — which stood in stark contrast to common greetings on religious holidays — quickly drew criticism from First Amendment and religious freedom advocates, who warned that the Trump administration appeared to be again favoring religious states.
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a religion or favoring another religion, while the Free Exercise Clause ensures the freedom to express one’s beliefs. Thomas Jefferson emphasized the importance of a “wall of separation between church and state” to prevent religion from becoming dominant in governance.
Dylan Mom, Director of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division explain The agency relies on “First Amendment principles and religious liberty protections to protect Christians every day,” noting legal actions in defense of conservative Christians and anti-abortion activists.
The Trump administration’s social media posts are “yet another example of the Christian nationalist rhetoric the Trump administration has spread since its first day in office.” According to Rachel LaserPresident of the American Federation for Separation of Church and State.
“Our Constitution’s commitment to the separation of church and state allows religious diversity — including different denominations of Christianity — to flourish in America,” she said in a statement.
Former Department of Homeland Security spokesman Alex Howard called the messages “an inappropriate use of official government channels.”
“Americans have no common religious beliefs” additional Alex Nowrasteh is senior vice president for policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “Our country is secular.”
Administration officials responded to criticism and requests for comment with “Merry Christmas.”
Nearly two-thirds of Americans consider themselves Christian, according to the agency Pew Research Center’s latest religious landscape study. That’s down about 16 percentage points from 20 years ago, while the share of Americans who don’t identify with any religion rose more than 13 points this year to 29%.
Nearly a quarter of Americans identify as evangelical Christians, but they played a crucial role in Trump’s presidential election, including about 80% of white evangelical voters in 2024.
February, President direct a working group The Justice Department “comprehensively prosecutes anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society” and “fights tooth and nail to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers across the country.”
He also established religious freedom commission Served in the Justice Department and appointed televangelist Paula White-Kane as senior adviser to the White House Office of Faith.
The Trump administration’s alliance with the evangelical base coincides with growing efforts by religious right special interests Invest public funds into religious groups and education.
The president has also long promised his evangelical base that his administration would work to repeal tax laws that bar tax-exempt charities from supporting or opposing political candidates, upending decades of federal law designed to prevent campaigns from using churches as political tools.
Earlier this year, the IRS said it would Allow churches and places of worship to support political candidates Leave the pulpit without losing your tax-exempt status.
In several cases before the Supreme Court, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor has been supported by Trump-aligned groups 2022 warning The conservative-majority court “continues to tear down the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers worked hard to erect.”
She warned that the court viewed the separation of church and state as a “constitutional slogan, not a constitutional promise.”