Bondi, Trump Cabinet convenes task force to root out 'anti-Christian bias' in federal agencies
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday hosted Cabinet officials from across the Trump administration for the first meeting of a new interagency task force aimed at eradicating "anti-Christian bias" within the federal government.
During Tuesday's meeting, Bondi described the task force as one aimed at remedying the "abuse" under the Biden-led Justice Department and at other federal agencies prior to Trump's second presidential term.
"As President Donald Trump has stated, the Biden administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses," Bondi told a small group of reporters. "The president is right."
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Bondi was joined Tuesday by a long list of senior Cabinet officials from across the federal government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Other senior agency officials were also present.
Bondi also used the meeting to highlight some of the actions the Trump administration has taken to crack down on anti-Christian biases.
To date, the Justice Department has dropped three ongoing cases against pro-lifers and "redefined the FACE Act" to help protect against what Bondi and others have described as the weaponization of pro-life groups and others.
Ultimately, "the First Amendment isn't just the line in the Constitution. It's the cornerstone of our American memory," Bondi said. "It guarantees every citizen the right to speak freely, worship freely, and live according to their conscience without government interference. Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism. It's upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise."
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the group planned to use the meeting to hear from individuals who had been harmed as a result of "anti-Christian sentiment" under the Biden administration, and the various ways this bias may have shown up in their departments or agencies.
That part of the meeting was closed to the press.
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Shortly before reporters were escorted from the room, Fox News asked the Department of Justice officials and other members of the task force whether they would share any examples of the anti-Christian bias within their agencies or any of the personal stories that they planned to touch on in the closed-door portion of the meeting.
The officials in attendance did not immediately answer the question, and Justice Department officials told Fox News and other reporters present that they would circulate more information after the meeting.
Trump first created the task force via an executive order in February, with the goal of rooting out "anti-Christian targeting and discrimination" within the government.
The president also selected Bondi to head up the task force — whom he praised as someone he trusted to "fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society."
The task force's first meeting comes just days after Politico reported that the Trump administration sent an internal cable to State Department employees ordering them to report any instances of coworkers displaying "anti-Christian bias" as part of the task force initiative.
The internal cable encouraged employees to share information via a tip form, noting that their responses could be kept anonymous, and was reportedly sent to embassies around the world, as well as the department headquarters in D.C.
"Biden's Department of Justice abused and targeted Christians," Trump said earlier this year. "Pro-life Christians were arrested and imprisoned for peacefully praying outside abortion clinics… NO MORE!"