The Trump administration unveiled sweeping new guidance Monday aimed at strengthening religious freedom protections for federal employees, marking one of the most significant moves in decades to support religious expression within the civil service.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent a government-wide memo titled “Protecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace” to all federal agencies.
The directive, obtained by Fox News Digital, lays out updated standards for allowing employees to express their religious beliefs without fear of reprisal. (RELATED: Vance Promises Trump Admin Will Reverse ‘Absurd’ Approach To Religious Liberty Issues, Promote ‘Moral Clarity’)
Thank you @POTUS for restoring our constitutional right to, and free exercise of, religion!https://t.co/g2BICCofqq
— Scott Turner (@SecretaryTurner) July 28, 2025
“Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,” OPM Director Scott Kupor told the outlet. “This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths.”
The new policy explicitly permits federal workers to display personal religious items — such as Bibles, crucifixes, mezuzahs, tefillin and rosary beads — at their desks, pray in groups during off-duty hours, speak about their faith and even invite colleagues to religious events, provided such actions do not disrupt agency operations.
Kupor emphasized that religious expression is protected under the First Amendment as well as federal laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
“Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law,” the memo states. “It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly qualified employees of faith.”
Agencies are now being directed to review and revise internal policies to ensure they are aligned with constitutional and legal protections for religious expression. Kupor stressed that restrictions must be content-neutral, and an agency cannot prohibit only religious posters or symbols while allowing secular ones.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined,” Kupor told Fox News Digital.
The new guidance is expected to take immediate effect across all federal departments.
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