As Trump admin. champions monthly prayer, advocacy group files lawsuits

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, March 26, 2026

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a secular advocacy organization, is suing the U.S. Departments of War and Labor, alleging the agencies have illegally withheld public records on monthly Christian prayer services hosted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

“The federal government’s role is to serve the public, not to proselytize,” Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser said in a statement about the federal lawsuits filed Tuesday.

“Secretaries Hegseth and Chavez-DeRemer are abusing the power of their government positions and taxpayer-funded resources to impose their preferred religion on federal workers,” she argued.

“Even if these prayer services are presented as voluntary, there is pressure on federal employees to attend in order to appease their bosses," she added, arguing that the pressure is especially relevant since the services occur amidst what she deemed the Trump administration’s "campaign to punish anyone who doesn’t comply with its Christian Nationalist agenda.”

The agencies have not yet formally responded to the lawsuits.

Hegseth launched the “Secretary’s Christian Prayer & Worship Service” during a May 2025 workday at the Pentagon, according to Americans United. The meetings have continued monthly since then.

Hegseth appeared focused on promoting faith at his first monthly prayer meeting since the start of the war in Iran on Wednesday, as he prayed that “every round find its mark."

“Every month it is fitting to be right here,” Hegseth told civilian employees and uniformed military personnel at the service. “All the more fitting this month, at this moment, given what tens of thousands of Americans are doing right now.”

The secretary went on to share a prayer first given by a military chaplain to the troops who captured the now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” he prayed during the livestreamed service. “Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

All Department of War employees are usually invited to attend the prayer meetings, and Hegseth, who attends a church belonging to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, has stated his belief that the nation needs to be “in prayer, on bended knee recognizing the providence of our lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer said she was inspired by Hegseth’s prayer services to start her own, which began in December 2025. Chavez-DeRemer, who identifies as Catholic, has stated that the nation “will probably need a little more prayer.” 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State insists, however, that the prayer meetings are a violation of religious freedom rights and accused the Trump administration of circulating "disinformation" about "religious expression in the federal workplace."

“Americans United will not stop fighting for church-state separation and for this nation to live up to its promise of religious freedom for all," Laser vowed.