The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Monday sent guidance to federal agencies requiring them to protect the religious expression of federal workers — a striking departure from the previous Biden administration, which was often hostile to people of faith.
OPM Director Scott Kupor sent the memo titled “Protecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace” to the heads of each government agency, stating that the federal workforce “should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith.”
“Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law. It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith,” the memo reads. “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution robustly protects expressions of religious faith by all Americans—including Federal employees.”
“This memorandum provides guidance to agencies on robustly protecting and enforcing each Federal employee’s right to engage in religious expression in the Federal workplace consistent with the U.S. Constitution, Title VII, and other applicable sources of law,” Kupor wrote. “Agencies should allow personal religious expression by Federal employees to the greatest extent possible unless such expression would impose an undue hardship on business operations. And they should review and (if necessary) revise their internal policies to ensure that they appropriately protect religious expression.”
Kupor detailed several examples of religious expression that are allowed for federal employees, including displaying and reading Bibles, displaying crosses, mezuzahs, religious artwork and jewelry, and more, on their person and in their assigned workspaces.
Kupor noted that agencies “may restrict all posters, but an agency may not single out religious posters, such as those of a crucifix, a Bible verse, or a Star of David, for harsher treatment.”
“An employee may wear a cross, as well as clothing displaying a religious message,” he continued.
The memo also details examples of how federal employees are allowed to have conversations about religion.
“During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs,” he wrote. “However, if the non-adherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.”
“An employee may invite another to worship at her church despite belonging to a different faith,” he continued. “On a bulletin board meant for personal announcements, a supervisor may post a hand-written note inviting each of his employees to attend an Easter service at his church.”
The memo additionally gives examples of how federal workers can interact with members of the public, including “a park ranger leading a tour through a national park may join her tour group in prayer,” and “a doctor at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital may pray over his patient for her recovery.”
Kupor noted that agencies may “reasonably regulate the time, place and manner of all employee speech, provided such regulations do not discriminate based on content or viewpoint (including religious viewpoints).”
The memo follows a July 16 memo to all agencies, notifying them that telework could be used to help with religious accommodations for some federal employees, including those who are fasting or observing holidays. The memo also told agencies that religious accommodations can include adjusting schedules around time-specific religious practices.
The Monday memo was sent in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” and establishing a “Religious Liberty Commission.” President Trump also signed an executive order in February creating a White House Faith Office.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
