President Donald Trump’s administration notched another huge win for Americans of faith on Monday, announcing that they would be able to share their religious beliefs at work.

The memo, The Hill noted, said that federal employees may persuade others why their religious beliefs are “correct” and that they would “be permitted to display and use items used for religious purposes or icons of a religiously significant nature, including but not limited to bibles, artwork, jewelry, posters displaying religious messages, and other indicia of religion (such as crosses, crucifixes and mezuzahs) on their desks, on their person, and in their assigned workspaces.”

“The Federal workforce should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith. Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law,” the memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management read.

“It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith.”

Trump, the memo said in a quote, is committed to preserving “America’s unique and beautiful tradition of religious liberty,” including with directing “the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in federal law.”

“The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution robustly protects expressions of religious faith by all Americans — including Federal employees,” the order read.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that the Free Exercise Clause ‘protects not only the right to harbor religious beliefs inwardly and secretly,’ but also ‘protect[s] the ability of those who hold religious beliefs of all kinds to live out their faiths in daily life.’”

Thus, the memo said, federal workers can not only practice their faith openly at work but can also “encourage their coworkers to participate in religious expressions of faith, such as prayer, to the same extent that they would be permitted to encourage coworkers participate in other personal activities.”

“During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs. However, if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request,” the memo continued.

Should Christians support President Trump?

Yes: 99% (85 Votes)

No: 1% (1 Votes)

“An employee may invite another to worship at her church despite being belonging to a different faith.”

The OPM worked with the White House Faith Office — which Trump established in the second month of his presidency — to produce the memo.

Andrew T. Walker, a professor of theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a fellow with the Ethics & Public Policy Center, called the protections “quite robust.”

“You don’t have to baptize your convictions in secularism to work for the federal government,” he added.

“The new OPM guidance upholds the obvious: religious Americans are full citizens — even at work.”

This new memo from the Trump administration on protecting religious freedom and expression in the federal workplace is quite robust.

You don’t have to baptize your convictions in secularism to work for the federal government. The new OPM guidance upholds the obvious: religious…

— Andrew T. Walker (@andrewtwalk) July 28, 2025

The anti-theistic Freedom From Religion Foundation, however, decried the move — always a sign you’re on the right side of history.

Federal employees can now proselytize coworkers — even supervisors can try to convert staff, as long as it’s not “harassing.”

A gift to evangelicals and the myth of “anti-Christian bias.”https://t.co/R2TcmzDHu1

— FFRF (@FFRF) July 28, 2025

“Federal employees can now proselytize coworkers — even supervisors can try to convert staff, as long as it’s not ‘harassing,'” the group said, linking a Reuters article.

“A gift to evangelicals and the myth of ‘anti-Christian bias,’” said the organization, a routine purveyor of anti-Christian bias.

But that highlights two craziest things about this: First, it’s crazy that at some point in America it became illegal to share your faith to government co-workers. Second, it’s crazy that this reversal will do nothing to change some “Christians’” opinion of Trump — likely because their faith is secondary or tertiary, at best.

Contributor, Commentary

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).

Birthplace

Morristown, New Jersey

Education

Catholic University of America

Languages Spoken

English, Spanish

Topics of Expertise

American Politics, World Politics, Culture

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