Huffman, Raskin, Colleagues Demand Answers About Trump Admin’s Suspicious Military Changes Threatening Religious Freedom

Huffman, Raskin, Colleagues Demand Answers About Trump Admin's Suspicious Military Changes Threatening Religious Freedom

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressional Freethought Caucus Co-Chairs Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) led their colleagues in a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers regarding the Trump administration's recent changes within the military that threaten the religious freedom of U.S. service members.

The letter expresses concern surrounding three specific decisions from the administration: reducing the Department of Defense's Faith and Belief codes, withdrawing the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide, and ordering Chaplains to replace their rank insignia with religious symbols on their uniforms.

"American service members put their lives on the line to defend our country and our Constitution. Each service member is in turn guaranteed their own First Amendment right to practice their religion-or no religion at all-as they see fit," the lawmakers wrote.

"[Y]our actions signal a departure from decades of precedent protecting service members against undue restrictions on their personal religious practice while also exposing them to unwanted and taxpayer-funded religious proselytization."

The lawmakers argue that these policies disproportionately affect service members who belong to religious minorities, identity as nonreligious, or do not subscribe to the same theological beliefs as the administration.

"[W]e plan to ensure that DoD is not backsliding on its historic commitment to every service member's religious free exercise and freedom from religious coercion and government orthodoxy. It is not your job to promote a particular religious creed in the Department of Defense, but rather to protect all service members' constitutional rights and faithfully implement the law," the members said.

The members outlined a series of requests and questions to help ensure service members' First Amendment right of religious freedom is protected:

1. Please share the full list of the newest Faith and Belief Codes.
2. Please share DoD's written justification for rescinding the longstanding Faith and Belief Codes. Please additionally describe the process DoD used to determine which codes would be removed from the Faith and Belief Codes updated during the first Trump Administration.
3. With these changes, how will the DoD protect the religious freedom rights of service members from minority faiths and belief backgrounds, including humanists and non-religious service members?
4. How will the DoD protect all service members' access to the benefits of working with chaplains in a manner that is authentic to their beliefs?
5. What guidance will the DOD provide to chaplains to ensure that chaplains do not proselytize to servicemembers?
6. Will a new guide replace the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide? If a new guide on spiritual or religious fitness will be produced, we request:
7. 1. Criteria used to determine changes from the 2025 guide;
   2. Any documents currently in formation; and
   3. Information about who is being consulted.
8. Please share all evidence complied by the Department used to determine there was undue "secular humanism" influence in the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide prior to these changes. How will the DoD ensure that any new materials promulgated to replace the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide do not promote any specific religion or religious belief, including theism?

Read the full letter here.

In addition to Reps. Huffman and Raskin, the letter was signed by Reps. Julia Brownley, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Sarah McBride, and Becca Balint.

The Congressional Freethought Caucus is an interfaith group of Members dedicated to advocating for religious freedom, church-state separation, and public policies based on science and reason.

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