Trump Appoints 26 to Advise Newly Formed Religious Liberty Commission

This week, the Trump White House unveiled the names of 26 individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds who will serve as advisors to a new commission focused on protecting religious liberty.  

The group includes religious leaders, academic scholars, attorneys, and media professionals who will advise the Religious Liberty Commission, a panel established by President Trump through executive order.

The White House previously unveiled names of the 13 members of the commission, which is led by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chairman, and former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, vice chairman. 

“It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law,” the executive order states. “The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views are integral to a vibrant public square and human flourishing and in which religious people and institutions are free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or hostility from the Government.” 

The commission will, according to the White House, produce a comprehensive report on the 1) foundations of religious liberty in America, 2) strategies to “increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism,” and, 3) threats to religious liberty and “strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations.”

Following are the names of the 26 advisors to the commission, as released by the White House:

Advisory Board of Religious Leaders

-- Bishop Salvatore Cordileone -- Archbishop of San Francisco and a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. 

-- Pastor Jentezen Franklin -- Senior pastor of Free Chapel, a multi-campus church based in Gainesville, Ga.

-- Archbishop Elpidophoros of America -- The eighth Archbishop of America elected since the establishment of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in 1922.

-- Father Thomas Ferguson -- Pastor of Good Shepherd Parish in Alexandria, Va.

-- Rabbi Mark Gottlieb -- Chief Education Officer of Tikvah and founding dean of the Tikvah Scholars Program. 

-- Pastor Jack Graham -- Senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas.

-- Rabbi Yaakov Menken -- Executive Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values.

-- Bishop Thomas Paprocki -- Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. 

-- Bishop Kevin Rhoades -- Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., and chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Religious Liberty. 

-- Rabbi Eitan Webb -- Co-founder of the Chabad House of Princeton and Jewish Chaplain at Princeton University.

-- Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel -- Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel of America, an American organization that represents Orthodox Jews. 

Advisory Board of Legal Experts

-- Francis Beckwith -- Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Affiliate Professor of Political Science, and Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy at Baylor University.

-- Jason Bedrick -- Research Fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation.

-- Josh Blackman -- Professor at the South Texas College of Law, Houston.

-- Gerald Bradley -- Professor of law at the University of Notre Dame.

-- Alyza Lewin -- President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; co-founder and partner in Lewin and Lewin, LLP.

-- Kristen Waggoner -- CEO, president, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom.

Advisory Board of Lay Leaders

-- Abigail Robertson Allen -- CBN; co-host of the Heaven Meets Earth podcast.

-- Gene Bailey -- The Victory Channel.

-- Mark David Hall -- Professor at Regent University in the Robertson School of Government.

-- Alveda King -- Chair of the Center for the American Dream at the America First Policy Institute and Board Member to Priests for Life. 

-- Christopher Levenick -- Director of the Program for Civic Renewal with the Connelly Foundation, and the editor-in-chief of Philanthropy Magazine.

-- Sameerah Munshi -- Munshi testified before the Montgomery County School Board in a case that is currently before the Supreme Court, and has worked with the Coalition of Virtue and the Religious Freedom Institute.

-- Ismail Royer -- Director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute. 

-- Ryan Tucker -- Senior counsel and director of the Center for Christian Ministries with Alliance Defending Freedom. 

-- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf -- One of the leading proponents of classical learning in Islam and a co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first accredited Muslim liberal arts college in the United States. 

Photo Credit: ©The White House

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

Originally published May 20, 2025.