Federal Employees Accuse Agriculture Secretary of ‘Sermonizing’ and Sending ‘Proselytizing Communications’

Federal employees are accusing the secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, of “sermonizing” and violating their First Amendment rights by sending “proselytizing communications” to the department’s staff.In a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the plaintiffs say Ms. Rollins has been “promoting her own preferred brand of Christian beliefs and theology to the captive audience of employees that report to her, directly or indirectly.”There are seven named plaintiffs as well as the National Federation of Employees, which represents roughly 90,000 USDA employees. The plaintiffs are being represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Democracy Forward Foundation.“The Secretary’s practice reached a crescendo with her April 5, 2026 Easter email, in which she heralded ‘the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind,’” the complaint says. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Rollins sent employees an Easter message in April 2026 that read in part, “No matter the very real trials and hardships we face, fear and sin and death do not get the last word. Because on Easter morning, ‘Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.’ Now that is reason to rejoice!”She also described her USDA subordinates as being ‘like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord . . . almost two thousand years ago.’”The plaintiffs say they feel Ms. Rollins is “pressuring them to share in her religious beliefs.”A USDA spokesman, Michael Abboud, said in a statement, “While we do not comment on pending litigation, we will keep the plaintiffs in our prayers during this process.”The lawsuit asks a judge to declare that Ms. Rollins’s messages violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and to block her from sending similar messages in the future.Ms. Rollins has not been shy about sharing her faith and regularly posts religious messages or Bible verses on social media and attends a Bible study with other Trump Administration officials. The lawsuit comes as President Trump has sought to bolster protections for religious freedoms. In February 2025, he said his administration would “not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians.” Last July, the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo that said federal employees “may engage in conversations regarding religious topics with fellow employees, including attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.”The memo said that the “constitutional rights of supervisors to engage in such conversations should not be distinguished from non-supervisory employees.” But it also stressed that an employee’s “unwillingness” to engage in those conversations may not be used as a basis for disciplinary action.

Federal Employees Accuse Agriculture Secretary of ‘Sermonizing’ and Sending ‘Proselytizing Communications’

Federal Employees Accuse Agriculture Secretary of ‘Sermonizing’ and Sending ‘Proselytizing Communications’

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