Federal workers rip USDA secretary for touting Jesus at work

(CN) — A number of federal employees say U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has been violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by sending a series of “increasingly proselytizing communications to the entire USDA workforce, promoting her own preferred brand of Christian beliefs and theology to the captive audience of employees.”

These messages culminated, they say in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Northern California, with a 2026 Easter Sunday email in which Rollins extolled “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind” and described her employees as “like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord . . . almost 2,000 years ago.”

In their complaint, the plaintiffs describe the emails as “exactly the sort of government-sponsored religious coercion, religious sermonizing, and denominational preference that the establishment clause prohibits.”

The seven named plaintiffs describe themselves as “a group of multifaith and nonreligious USDA employees.” Their union, the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents about 100,000 federal workers, including the roughly 90,000 employees in the USDA, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

They say they “feel that the secretary is pressuring them to share in her religious beliefs. They feel excluded and unwelcome, and they fear the negative consequences of not sharing the secretary’s religion or expressing their own different beliefs in the workplace.”

Asked for comment on the lawsuit, USDA spokesman Michael Abboud said that “while we do not comment on pending litigation, we will keep the plaintiffs in our prayers during this process.”

Rollins, who served in a number of roles during the first Trump administration, was confirmed as agriculture secretary in February 2025. She makes no secret of her Christian faith, often quoting from the Bible in her social media posts.

The plaintiffs want a federal judge to block Rollins “from continuing to send or otherwise communicate proselytizing Christian messages to USDA employees.”

They are represented by Bryan Schwartz in Oakland and attorneys from Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Democracy Forward Foundation.

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