Last Friday, President Trump issued an Executive Order (full text) establishing the White House Faith Office. The White House also issued a Fact Sheet summarizing the President's Executive Order and related initiatives. The Executive Order comes less than three weeks after President Trump as part of an earlier Executive Order (full text) titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions revoked President Biden's Executive Order (full text) that created a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. President Trump's new Executive Order reads in part:
The executive branch wants faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to compete on a level playing field for grants, contracts, programs, and other Federal funding opportunities. The efforts of faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship are essential to strengthening families and revitalizing communities, and the Federal Government welcomes opportunities to partner with such organizations through innovative, measurable, and outcome-driven initiatives.
The executive branch is committed to ensuring that all executive departments and agencies ... honor and enforce the Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty and to ending any form of religious discrimination by the Federal Government.
The President also announced the following appointments to the White House Faith Office: Pastor Paula White-Cain as a Special Government Employee and Senior Advisor to the Office; Jennifer S. Korn as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Faith Director of the Office; and Jackson Lane as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Faith Engagement.
The Hill reports on the President's action. Wikipedia traces the history of similar offices in successive Administrations since that of George W. Bush. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
