The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom now has its full contingent of nine members, with President Donald Trump naming three new members.
USCIRF is comprised of nine private sector commissioners, with three selected by the sitting president, two by the leaders of the president’s party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the party not in the White House. Commissioners are appointed for two-year terms and are eligible for one additional term.
Trump’s three appointees have ties to him politically:
Robert Barron serves as the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, N.Y. He hosted the PBS documentary series Catholicism and is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He formerly served on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. At Trump’s Rededicate 250 event this summer, Barron said the Founding Fathers were biblical Christians “almost to a man.”
Andrew Brunson is a pastor and former missionary in Turkey for 23 years. In 2016, he was arrested on false charges and kept in detention for two years. Turkey released Brunson in October 2018 after a court sentenced him to time served, apparently due to pressure from the first Trump administration. Brunson flew directly back to the United States and met with Trump in the Oval Office Oct. 13, 2018. During the televised meeting, Brunson knelt and prayed for Trump, asking God to give the president “supernatural wisdom” to lead the country.
Joe Grogan is former director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council and assistant to President Trump. He is a public policy and health care expert and currently a Visiting Senior Scholar at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Institute. This week he also was named senior advisor and co-chair of public policy practice in the Washington office of Covington & Burling.
These appointees join six others already named:
- Asif Mahmood, chair, a pulmonologist and human rights advocate named by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
- CeCe Heil, vice chair, senior counsel and international legal director for the American Center for Law and Justice, appointed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune
- David A. Anderson, founder and president of Gracism Global, working to build bridges across the divides of race, faith, culture and wealth, appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
- Gunisha Kaur, a physician, medical anthropologist and scientist, appointed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
- Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, appointed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
- Gene Mills, president of Louisiana Family Forum, appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson