A coalition of 20 organizations dedicated to the separation of church and state have written to leaders of the U.S. Senate urging them not to confirm President Donald Trump’s nomination of Russell Vought at director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Vought is a controversial figure who led the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 work that critics say seeks to reshape the federal government into an evangelical Christian theocracy.
The letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer comes from 21 organizations: American Atheists, American Ethical Union, American Humanist Association, Atheist Alliance of America, Black Nonbelievers Inc., Camp Quest, The Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, The Clergy Project, Cultural and Secular Jewish Organization, Ex-Muslims of North America, Foundation Beyond Belief, The Freethought Society, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Hispanic American Freethinkers, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, Recovering From Religion, Secular Coalition for America, Secular Student Alliance, Secular Woman, Society for Humanistic Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Humanists.
“We do not need to speculate on what he would do as OMB director because we can simply look at his record in his previous stint at OMB and his contributions to Project 2025,” the letter states.
“He’s OK with ‘institutional separation’ as long as he still gets the influence of Christianity on the government.”
“The first line of the Bill of Rights declares, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.’ (We) staunchly support the Establishment Clause and the separation of church and state that follows from it. Mr. Vought cannot say the same.”
The letter points out that Vought has proudly claimed the label as a Christian nationalist: “He’s OK with ‘institutional separation’ as long as he still gets the influence of Christianity on the government.”
Vought also has written that he believes the United States is a “Christian nation.” The letter replies: “It is absolutely not. Our Constitution does not contain any of the words Christian, God, Jesus or Bible. It is a secular document that meticulously establishes a secular government. It only mentions religion twice: in Article VI, clause 3, which prohibits religious tests for any government office; and in the First Amendment. Neither establishes the United States as a Christian nation. Quite the opposite.”
If confirmed, Vought “could have a significant impact on government policy with serious, real-world consequences,” the group warns. “According to his own statements, an individual’s immigration eligibility should depend on whether that person “accept(ed) Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.”
The letter also explains: “Our nation is famously a melting pot of different cultures, customs, and creeds. Mr. Vought’s desire to promote and privilege Christianity over other faith traditions — and none — is antithetical to the idea of a pluralistic society and directly contrary to the uniquely secular democracy our Founding Fathers envisioned.”
The coalition cites other concerns about Vought’s stated goals — including reshaping the federal workforce to be loyal to Trump — but concludes: “We believe Mr. Vought’s determination to make this a more Chistian nation with a more Christian government is, by itself, disqualifying.”
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