The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is comprised of 9 Commissioners, 3 selected by the President, 2 selected by Congressional leaders of the President's party, and 4 selected by Congressional leaders of the other party. Commissioners are appointed for two-year terms. Wednesday, the appointment of 3 Commissioners by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was announced in the Congressional Record. The new Commissioners are Vicky Hartzler, Maureen Ferguson and Asif Mahmood.
Maureen Ferguson is a Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association and co-host of the radio show Conversations with Consequences. She is also on the Advisory Committee for the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame.
Asif Mahmood, who was born in Pakistan and received his medical education there, is a member of the Medical Board of California, is on the board of Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, is on the California Democratic Party Central Committee and was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress from California in 2022.
Vicky Hartzler, a conservative Christian, served 6 terms in Congress from Missouri before losing a bid for a Senate seat from Missouri in 2022. According to the Kansas City Star:
She rose to prominence in Missouri as face of the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Missouri in 2004, traveling the state to support an amendment to the state’s constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman....
[In Congress] She sponsored bills to protect Christians persecuted in China and often signed on to legislation purporting to advance religious freedom. She also continued to push back against LGBTQ rights.
CLARIFICATION UPDATE: Sec. 6431 of the International Religious Freedom Act provides:
(ii) Three members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, of which two of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the Senate of the political party that is not the political party of the President, and of which one of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the Senate of the other political party. (iii) Three members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of which two of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the House of the political party that is not the political party of the President, and of which one of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the House of the other political party.
