The Trump administration is ensuring federal employees are allowed to practice their faith and express religious beliefs in the workplace.
The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s human resources agency, issued a government-wide memo Monday detailing the federal laws protecting religious expression rights and directing agencies to ensure they are in compliance with the administration’s guidance.
“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. It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith,” the memo reads.
The memo includes multiple examples of the kinds of religious expression the Trump administration is ordering agencies to protect. Using religious items including Bibles and rosaries at desks and other workspaces is permitted. Groups and individuals can use those items to pray and study scripture during breaks but not while on duty. They can also wear religious garb such as t-shirts with religious messages and crosses.
Employees are allowed to have conversations about religion and encourage others to convert to their faith and conduct group prayers. Federal employees can even invite coworkers of different faiths to come worship at their church if they are interested. But if the person is not interested, their fellow employee is encouraged to end the conversation there.
OMB’s memo also makes clear that employees can privately and publicly practice their faith in their personal capacity, regardless of the fact that they are a government employee. For example, a security guard at the front desk of a public building can display and use religious items.
“Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,” said OPM director Scott Kupor.
“This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths. Under President Trumpʼs leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined.”
The memo follows another OPM memo earlier this month providing guidance on reasonable accommodations for religious observance. Telework, paid time off, and flexible work schedules are among the religious accommodations OPM suggested to ensure employees can observe religious holidays or conduct other religious practices at specific times.
“For ordinary Catholics serving in government and across the nation, these commitments are not mere policy: they are a restoration of our most fundamental freedoms,” said Kelsey Reinhardt, president of Catholic Vote, a conservative Catholic activist group.
“Living our faith in public, whether by displaying sacramentals on our desks, pausing to pray on a busy workday, or thoughtfully sharing the hope that animates us; has always been part of the American promise.”
Trump has appointed Christians of various stripes to numerous cabinet positions and advisory roles. Likewise, the Trump administration has multiple high-ranking Jewish officials and individuals from other faith backgrounds.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year targeting anti-Christian bias and established a religious liberty commission with priests, pastors, policy experts, media personalities, and political officials. He separately established an office of faith to work with faith-based organizations.