Section III: Religious Liberty and Congress

Unlike the 118th Congress, with divided government and little chance for bicameral legislative movement, the 119th Congress and Trump administration form a united Republican government with the potential to pass partisan legislation and enact administrative actions. In 2025, the Congress sought to implement President Trump’s domestic agenda. Most of the legislative activity focused on passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law on July 4. Upon returning from the August recess, Congress turned to difficult “must-pass” legislation, including the FY2026 appropriations bills and the National Defense Authorization Act, leaving little time for other legislative matters. However, Congress failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on FY2026 appropriations before the end of the fiscal year, leading to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, and during which time the House was out of session.

Equal Campus Access Act

The Equal Campus Access Act (H.R.5505/S.2859), led in the House by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI-5) and in the Senate by James Lankford (R-OK), prohibits funding made available under the Higher Education Act of 1965 from being provided to any public institution of higher education that denies to religious student organizations any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution because of the religious beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or standards of conduct of the religious student organization. The Committee supported similar legislation in 2023, and in September joined an interfaith coalition to support the Equal Campus Access Act of 2025.[1] 

Conscience Protection Act

The Conscience Protection Act (H.R.3411/S.1756) led in the House by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX-11) and in the Senate by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), would prohibit discrimination against health care entities that do not participate in abortion and would also strengthen federal conscience laws. The CPA is a long-standing USCCB priority and has received consistent support from the Secretariat on Pro-Life Activities, as well as the Committee for Religious Liberty.

The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025

The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) (H.R. 12/S.2150) would impose abortion on demand nationwide at any stage of pregnancy through federal statute. Immediately upon passage, the WHPA would invalidate state laws protecting the preborn from abortion, even late in a pregnancy, including laws that prohibit abortion based on race, sex, disability, or other characteristic. It would likely trump state and federal conscience laws that protect the right of health care providers and professionals, employers, and insurers not to perform, assist in, refer for, cover, or pay for abortion. The WHPA expressly eliminates defenses under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The House passed the WHPA in 2021 and in 2022, but it stalled in the Senate. It was reintroduced in 2025 by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). The USCCB opposed the WHPA in 2022. 

Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025

The Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA) (H.R.1007/S.558) was introduced in 2023 in response to antisemitic incidents on college campuses, and it was re-introduced in 2025. It would direct the Department of Education (USDE) to use the definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in the USDE’s enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. Per IHRA, “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” The bill would also direct the USDE to adopt IHRA’s examples of antisemitism. As of this writing, the USCCB has not taken a position on the AAA. 

Federal Scholarship Tax Credit

One of USCCB’s priorities during the budget reconciliation process was to encourage incorporation of the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a bill to promote parental choice in education by giving tax credits for donations to scholarship granting organizations.[2] The USCCB was a prominent advocate for inclusion of religious liberty protections in the ECCA. However, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that some aspects of ECCA did not comply with the strict rules for budget reconciliation, and the resulting Federal Scholarship Tax Credit that was included in the passed reconciliation bill, which dramatically improves parental choice in education, did not include religious liberty protections.

USCCB staff are working closely with partners in educational choice advocacy to encourage Treasury regulations to be as favorable as possible for religious liberty protections within the program. 

FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025 

The FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025 (H.R.589/S.223) led in the House by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) and in the Senate by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) would repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). The bishops opposed the FACE Act when it was passed in 1994, concerned it would lead to discriminatory prosecutions against peaceful pro-life protesters. In the thirty years since the passage of the FACE Act, it has been used almost exclusively to protect abortion clinics. In contrast, increased violence against life-saving pregnancy help centers and churches following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision went largely unchallenged by the federal government, with only a handful of cases brought under the FACE Act. USCCB’s Pro-Life and Religious Liberty Committee chairmen endorsed the legislation in a joint letter.[3]

Religious Workforce Protection Act

Led in the Senate by Tim Kaine (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jim Risch (R-ID), and in the House by Reps. Mike Carey (R-OH-15), Richard Neal (D-MA-01), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), and Pete Stauber (R-MN-08), the Religious Workforce Protection Act (RWPA) (S. 1298/H.R. 2672) would support the free exercise of religion in communities across America by providing limited flexibilities to religious workers who are legally present in the country and waiting to receive their green card. The RWPA has been one of the USCCB’s highest advocacy priorities.[4]

Nonprofit Security Grant Program 

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides grants to nonprofits and houses of worship to enhance security through improvements to infrastructure, funding for emergency planning and training, upgrading security systems, and some renovation projects. Current funding (at $454.5 million) provides grants to fewer than half the applicants to the program. The USCCB has long supported this program, and Bishop Rhoades, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, issued a letter requesting that Congress increase funding to at least $500 million for fiscal year 2026.[5]

Free Speech Fairness Act 

The Free Speech Fairness Act (H.R.2501/S.1205), led in the House by Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC-8) and in the Senate by James Lankford (R-OK), would circumvent the Johnson Amendment and allow charitable organizations to make statements relating to political campaigns if such statements are made in the ordinary course of carrying out its tax exempt purpose. The USCCB has not taken a position on this legislation. In a July statement regarding a recent IRS interpretation of the Johnson Amendment, the USCCB Office of Public Affairs said that “the Catholic Church maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates.”[6]

Bills Targeting Religious Charities that Serve Immigrants

Senate bill S.497, “Fixing Exemptions for Networks Choosing to Enable Illegal Migration (FENCE) Act,” led by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), would revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations that provide financial assistance, benefits, services, or other material support to individuals alleged to be unlawfully present in the United States. 

House bill H.R. 1168, reintroduced by Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX-5), “Protecting Federal Funds from Human Trafficking and Smuggling Act,” would prohibit any federal funding to, and prohibit tax-exempt status for, a nonprofit unless the organization certifies it is in compliance with a subjective interpretation of federal immigration law related to facilitating the unlawful entry of noncitizens. Beyond submitting to certification, the bill would also empower the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to make unilateral, extrajudicial determinations regarding whether an organizations has violated the criminal provisions in question and instruct the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a strategy for improving nonprofits’ cooperation in deterring, detecting, reporting, and removing noncitizens. 

While not adopting a formal position on these bills, the USCCB has strongly and consistently opposed the sorts of provisions they contain.[7] For example, in 2023, the USCCB opposed the “Secure the Border Act,” a sweeping piece of immigration legislation covering many different issues, when introduced during the previous Congress; a specific cause of the USCCB’s opposition was provisions in the bill similar to those contained in S. 497 and H.R. 1168.[8] 

House Judiciary Committee Investigation

In late July, the House Judiciary Committee published a staff report, “How the Biden-Wray FBI Manufactured a False Narrative of Catholic Americans as Violent Extremists.”[9] The report presents findings from the Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the FBI’s issuance of a memorandum from the Richmond Field Office that assessed that “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” are increasingly showing interest in “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology,” and that this interest presents new opportunities for “source development.” The report includes new information about the FBI’s efforts to gather information in the wake of the Richmond Field Office Memo. It claims that, regarding an investigation of a suspected terrorist, “the FBI attempted to violate the priest-penitent privilege on the faulty reasoning that the Richmond subject under investigation seeking spiritual guidance had not been baptized or completed catechism.”[10] The USCCB has not been involved in the investigative work of the Judiciary Committee.

[1] David Nammo, et al, “Letter of Support for the Equal Campus Access Act of 2025,” 16 September 2025: www.christianlegalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Group-Letter-supporting-ECAA-Final-09-2025.pdf. 

[2] USCCB News Release: U.S. Bishops Urge Senate to Act with Courage and Creativity to Protect the Poor and Vulnerable, 26 June 2025: www.usccb.org/news/2025/us-bishops-urge-senate-act-courage-and-creativity-protect-poor-and-vulnerable. See also “Letter to Congress Regarding Budget Reconciliation,” 26 June 2025: www.usccb.org/resources/letter-congress-regarding-budget-reconciliation-june-26-2025.

[3] Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, “Letter of Support for the FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025 (H.R. 589),” 24 July 2025: www.usccb.org/letter-supporting-repeal-face-act. 

[4] Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio and Bishop Mark J. Seitz, “Letter to Congress on the Religious Workforce Protection Act,” 10 April 2025: www.usccb.org/resources/letter-congress-religious-workforce-protection-act-april-10-2025. 

[5] Bishop Kevin Rhoades, “Letter on Nonprofit Security Grant Program—FY2026,” 12 June 2025: www.usccb.org/resources/letter-nonprofit-security-grant-program-fy2026. 

[6] USCCB News Release: “The Catholic Church maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates,” 8 July 2025: www.usccb.org/news/2025/catholic-church-maintains-its-stance-not-endorsing-or-opposing-political-candidates. 

[7] Bishop Mark Seitz, “Letter on H.R. 2,” 5 May 2023: www.usccb.org/resources/USCCB%20Letter%20on%20H.R.%202.pdf. 

[8] For further information, see “Backgrounder: Religious Liberty, Migration, and the Border,” www.usccb.org/resources/Religious_Liberty_Migration_Border.pdf. 

[9] House Judiciary Committee, “How the Biden-Wray FBI Manufactured a False Narrative of Catholic Americans as Violent Extremists,” 22 July 2025: judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/2025-07/2025-07-22_How-the-Biden-Wray-FBI-Manufactured-False-Narrative-of-Catholic-Americans-as-Violent-Extremists-Report_Final.pdf.

[10] See also Kate Scanlon, OSV News, “Report: FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence,” 25 July 2025: www.osvnews.com/report-fbi-surveilled-sspx-priest-amid-probe-of-suspected-neo-nazis-plans-for-violence/.