Justice Department issues first major update to federal religious-liberty guidance since 2017

The Justice Department issued updated Religious Liberty Guidelines on July 23, 2026, directing federal executive departments and agencies to account for religious-liberty protections across a broad range of government decisions.

The department described the release as the first major update to its religious-liberty guidance since 2017. The guidance addresses rulemaking, enforcement, federal employment, contracting and grant programs, creating a government-wide framework for how agencies should review issues involving religion.

For people and organizations dealing with federal agencies, the practical significance is that religious-liberty considerations are now expressly built into the department’s instructions for agency decision-making. The guidance could affect how future rules, enforcement actions, employment decisions and funding processes are evaluated.

What agencies are being told to do

The guidance directs agencies to consider religious-liberty impacts when developing rules and policies. It also requires agencies to designate officers who will review regulatory proposals for compliance with religious-liberty protections.

That review requirement places religious-liberty analysis inside the federal regulatory process rather than treating it only as an issue raised after a policy has been finalized. The source packet does not identify a specific pending rule or enforcement case that will immediately change as a result.

The guidelines also address enforcement. They reference protections associated with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the First Amendment. The Justice Department’s announcement identifies those legal protections as part of the framework discussed in the updated guidance.

The update includes federal workplace accommodations. Examples identified by the department include scheduling and religious expression in the workplace. The guidance therefore speaks both to how agencies regulate the public and to how the federal government handles religious practice by its own employees.

Grants and contracts

Religious organizations are addressed in the guidance’s provisions on federal contracting and grants. The department says those organizations must be allowed to compete on equal footing with secular organizations in federal contracting and grant programs.

The guidance further says agencies may not condition participation in federal programs on a religious organization giving up its religious character or its hiring rights. That instruction could matter to religious organizations seeking federal funds or contracts, although the source packet does not identify a particular award, application or dispute affected immediately by the release.

The department’s stated approach is to preserve participation by religious organizations while requiring agencies to account for religious-liberty protections when administering federal programs. The guidance is directed at executive departments and agencies nationwide.

Part of a broader policy effort

The update follows recent work by the Justice Department’s Religious Liberty Commission. A June 26, 2026, commission news entry records a draft report and recommendations addressing religious expression, anti-Semitism and federal enforcement.

The Associated Press reported that the commission’s draft report was 224 pages and included recommendations concerning religious expression in government, schools and the public square. That report provides context for the administration’s broader religious-liberty agenda, but it is separate from the July 23 guidance.

The distinction matters: the commission’s report was described as a draft, while the Justice Department announced the updated guidelines as executive-branch guidance. The source packet does not establish that the guidelines create a new federal statute or regulation, alter constitutional law, override Title VII or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or displace court decisions.

What happens next

Federal agencies are expected to apply the guidance as they develop rules and policies, review regulatory proposals, handle employment accommodations, conduct enforcement and administer grants and contracts. The requirement that agencies designate review officers is one of the clearest operational steps identified in the announcement.

No separate implementation deadline is provided in the source packet, and no specific pending case or funding decision is identified. The next effects will therefore depend on how individual agencies incorporate the guidance into their own reviews and decisions.

Sources

• Acting Attorney General Blanche Issues Updated Guidance to Strengthen Federal Religious Liberty Protections, U.S. Department of Justice
• Religious Liberty Commission News, U.S. Department of Justice
• A Trump commission urges 'bridges' between church and state in sweeping draft report, Associated Press

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