New Trump Administration Guidelines Stress Workplace Religious Freedoms
Such expression, the guidance asserts, includes employees and supervisors seeking to recruit fellow federal workers to their religion, as long as they do not cross into harassment. Wearing religious symbols and staging them in office cubicles is also protected, the guidance says, as are hosting prayer groups in empty offices and posting about religious events on office bulletin boards.
The Clinton White House issued similar guidelines in 1997, though at greater length and with more detailed examples and caveats. The Trump administration did not say whether its guidelines superseded those issued in 1997. Neither set of directives affects the First Amendment to the Constitution or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
'This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths,' said Scott Kuper, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, which released the policy, said in a statement.
The policy is the latest in a series of directives that the Trump administration has issued on religious freedoms. President Trump announced a new White House faith office in April. In May, he established the Religious Liberty Commission in the Department of Justice.
While much of Mr. Trump's promotion of religious expression has been focused on protecting the rights of Christians, the First Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protect religious expression involving all faiths. The Constitution also prohibits government endorsement of any religion.
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