BJC: Biden administration nets victory for religious freedom
U.S. Department of Labor restores protections against religious discrimination.
Media contact: Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons: [email protected]
WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Department of Labor announced the rescission of a discriminatory Trump-era policy concerning religious freedom protections in federal contracting. BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) opposed the policy during the Trump administration and called on the Biden administration to rescind it.
In response to today’s announcement, Holly Hollman, general counsel and associate executive director of BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty), issued the following statement:
“No one should be denied a federally funded job for being the wrong religion. The Biden administration is right to restore protections against religious discrimination for Americans who work for federal contractors. Returning to the rules as they existed under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama ensures that safeguards against discrimination intended to protect workers are not redefined into a broad exemption for for-profit businesses to reject qualified employees under the guise of religion.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s action today restores a workable standard that permits religious contractors to compete for federal contracts while ensuring American workers are protected from religious discrimination in their jobs.
Rooted in the historic Baptist principle of religious freedom, BJC applauds the Biden administration for restoring important protections against discrimination for the one in five American workers employed by federal contractors.”
In addition to serving as the general counsel and associate executive director of BJC, Holly Hollman co-hosts BJC’s Respecting Religion podcast.
BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) is an 87-year-old religiously based organization working to defend faith freedom for all and protect the institutional separation of church and state in the historic Baptist tradition. BJC is the home of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.
