Justice Department Updates Federal Religious-Liberty Guidance
The Justice Department on July 23, 2026, issued updated guidance directing executive departments and agencies nationwide to account for religious-liberty protections in regulations, enforcement, federal employment, contracting and grant programs.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued the guidance through the department’s Office of Legal Policy. The Justice Department said the document updates its department-wide Religious Liberty Guidelines from 2017.
The guidance gives agencies a framework for considering existing constitutional and legal protections as they develop policies and carry out government programs. It is guidance rather than a statute, regulation or court ruling, and it does not automatically change every federal employment, grant or contracting decision.
Rules and agency decisions
Agencies are instructed to consider religious-liberty impacts when developing rules and policies. That review includes concerns raised during notice-and-comment periods, when members of the public and organizations can submit views on proposed federal rules.
The guidance also directs agencies to designate officers to review regulatory proposals for compliance with religious-liberty protections. The stated purpose is to bring those concerns into the agency review process before rules and policies are finalized.
The document cites the Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other applicable federal laws. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was enacted in 1993. Title VII is among the federal legal authorities identified in the guidance in connection with religious protections in employment.
The guidance’s rulemaking provisions therefore reach more than a single department program or individual decision. They address how executive agencies are expected to identify and evaluate religious-liberty questions while drafting rules, reviewing proposed policies and considering public comments.
Employment, enforcement and federal funding
The updated document addresses religious accommodations and religious expression in federal employment. It reaffirms protections for religious expression by federal workers and for scheduling accommodations in federal workplaces.
Those provisions direct agencies to account for religious-liberty concerns in workplace policies and in the consideration of individual accommodation issues. The guidance does not itself resolve a particular employee’s request or require an automatic outcome in every case.
Enforcement is another area covered by the guidance. Agencies are directed to consider religious-liberty protections when carrying out enforcement actions, along with their responsibilities under the Constitution and applicable federal law.
The document also addresses federal contracts and grants. It says religious organizations must be able to compete on equal footing with secular organizations for federal contracts and grants.
That language applies to the way executive agencies evaluate programs involving federal funding. It establishes a principle for agency review, rather than identifying a particular contract or grant award that has already changed under the updated guidance.
What changes immediately
The Justice Department’s action updates the department’s 2017 guidance and sets expectations for executive departments and agencies as they assess religious-liberty issues. Its stated scope includes the drafting of rules, consideration of public comments, enforcement activity, federal workplace decisions, contracting and grant programs.
The guidance could affect how agencies evaluate religious accommodations, religious expression by federal workers, enforcement actions and eligibility for federally funded opportunities. The practical effect will depend on how agencies apply the guidance in those areas and how the cited constitutional and statutory protections bear on particular decisions.
The department’s announcement did not identify specific agency rules, contracts or grant decisions that had already changed because of the update. It also did not specify how the guidance will affect pending litigation or individual accommodation requests.
For now, the July 23 release is a department-wide update directing federal agencies to incorporate religious-liberty considerations into their existing work. It builds on the 2017 guidelines and points agencies to the Constitution, the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Title VII and other applicable federal laws.
Sources
- Acting Attorney General Blanche Issues Updated Guidance to Strengthen Federal Religious Liberty Protections, U.S. Department of Justice
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