type: timeline_event
On February 9, 2026, a coalition of multifaith organizations filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging Trump's Religious Liberty Commission as an unconstitutional and illegal body. The plaintiffs — Interfaith Alliance, Muslims for Progressive Values, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Hindus for Human Rights, represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Democracy Forward — argued the Commission violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by failing to ensure balanced membership. Of the Commission's 16 members, 15 are Christians and one is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi; no Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, or non-religious Americans were appointed.
The Commission, established by executive order in May 2025 and chaired by Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick with Dr. Ben Carson as vice chair, was tasked with producing a comprehensive report on religious liberty by July 4, 2026 — timed to the nation's 250th anniversary. Members included pastor Franklin Graham, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, televangelist Paula White, Dr. Phil McGraw, and Eric Metaxas, collectively representing a narrow "Judeo-Christian" viewpoint. The lawsuit sought a declaration that the Commission violates FACA and demanded immediate disclosure of all materials prepared for and by the commission.
The Commission was established following Trump's White House Faith Office executive order and sits within the Domestic Policy Council — institutionalizing Christian nationalist advisors within the executive branch policymaking structure. The lawsuit documented how the body was designed not to protect religious liberty broadly but to advance a specific theological and political agenda: all members collectively hold that America was founded as a "Judeo-Christian" nation that must be guided by biblical principles, positions that directly contradict constitutional religious neutrality. The Commission's July 4 report was expected to produce a blueprint for further dismantling church-state separation across federal agencies.