After he was sworn in as president Monday, President Trump signed a flurry of executive orders. Many of these repealed Biden-Era policies promoting radical gender ideology, safeguarding free speech, and weaponizing law enforcement against religious and pro-life Americans. Kelly Shackelford, First Liberty President & CEO explained the most vital ways Trump will protect religious freedom.
First Liberty describes themselves as “The largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans. We believe that every American of any faith—or no faith at all—has a fundamental right to follow their conscience and live according to their beliefs.” They represent pastor and churches in religious liberty cases.
First, Trump signed an order titled ” Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” This executive order confirmed that the official policy of the United States is to protect free speech. Trump called for an end to the censorship of protected speech. He specifically mentioned speech relating to religion. He also directed the Attorney General to look into the Biden admin.
He asked the AG to examine if the Biden administration has violated Americans’ free speech and make recommendations for appropriate actions to correct those violations. First Liberty represents Shields of Strength. This company was ordered to top distributing its dog tags containing Scripture and military insignia. The Department of Defense said this was against military policy.
Trump also signed an order titled, “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” This order described how the Biden administration weaponized legal forces against “perceived political opponents.” This included parents speaking out at school board meetings. He called on the AG to look into how Biden may have weaponized law enforcement.
Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, promised to end this practice. During her Senate confirmation hearing she said, “That is the whole problem…the weaponization that we’ve seen over the last four years, that will not be the case if I am Attorney General. I will not politicize that office. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country.”
Another major executive order was “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government.” This order reads, “will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience” by affirming that “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.” “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” and “‘Sex’…does not include the concept of ‘gender identity,’” the order states.
First Liberty also explained how vital Trump’s order to roll back DEI polices is. They spoke about Alaska Airlines flight attendants who were fired for posting concerns about the “Equality Act.” First Liberty Senior Counsel Stephanie Taub, said “Alaska Airlines’ obsessive focus on DEI created a hostile work environment for anyone who dares to disagree with the company’s political agenda.” She concluded, “Their decision to fire our clients is a blatant violation of state and federal civil rights laws to discriminate against someone in the workplace because of their religious beliefs and expression.”