Government of ‘Biblical Principles’: Inside the Administration’s Christian Nationalist Agenda

4 minutes read time.

“We’re bringing back religion in our country,” President Felonious Punk declared at a Rose Garden event earlier this year. For many, it may have sounded like the standard, pious rhetoric of a Republican president courting his base. But as the first half-year of his second term has shown, this was not a platitude; it was a promise. Through a systematic and relentless series of executive orders, policy changes, and high-level appointments, the Punk administration has repeatedly delivered for the conservative Christians who form the bedrock of his support. These are not isolated moves or simple favors to a political constituency. They are the methodical and deliberate implementation of the Project 2025 blueprint, a long-term plan to reshape the federal government along the lines of a deeply illiberal and anti-democratic Christian Nationalist ideology.

Part I: The Blueprint – Project 2025

To understand the administration’s actions, one must first understand the ideological source code from which they are programmed. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is not just a collection of policy recommendations; it is, as the Kettering Foundation’s Maura Casey described it, a “blueprint for Christian Nationalist regime change.” At its core, Christian Nationalism is the belief that the “Christian Bible, as God’s infallible law, should be the basis of government and have primacy over public and private institutions.” It is a patriarchal worldview that explicitly rejects gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, and it seeks to dismantle the foundational American principle of the separation of church and state. Project 2025 is the operational manual for turning this ideology into a governing reality, a detailed plan to imbue the federal government with “biblical principles” and grant the president sweeping new powers to enforce them.

Part II: The Agenda in Action

With this blueprint in hand, the administration has moved with shocking speed to turn theory into practice. One of the first moves was a direct assault on the Johnson Amendment, the long-standing IRS rule that prohibits churches from making political endorsements if they wish to keep their tax-exempt status. A new IRS declaration now explicitly allows pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit, a move that effectively transforms tax-exempt houses of worship into unregulated Super PACs.

This has been paired with a push to insert religion into the federal workplace itself. A new memo from the Office of Personnel Management now encourages federal employees to “promote and talk about their religion with fellow employees on the job,” a policy that critics like Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State argue “encourages federal workers to abuse the power of their positions by imposing their religious beliefs on others.”

This ideology is being promoted and enforced by the President’s top lieutenants. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently used his social media platform to repost a video of pastors arguing that women should not be allowed to vote. This is not a minor gaffe; it is a direct and public endorsement of the patriarchal core of Christian Nationalism from a cabinet secretary who swore an oath to a Constitution that includes the 19th Amendment.

This agenda is being further institutionalized through a series of new, stacked committees. The administration has created a White House faith office led by televangelist Paula White-Cain, a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias” chaired by the Attorney General, and a “Religious Liberty Commission” chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a vocal supporter of prayer in public schools. At the event announcing this commission, the President himself dismissed the concept of church-state separation, saying, “Let’s forget about that for one time.” This is all happening as his three first-term Supreme Court appointees continue to deliver major victories for the religious right, from allowing religious parents to pull children from public school lessons with LGBTQ+ content to upholding bans on gender-affirming care.

The End of Separation

The Rev. Shannon Fleck, a progressive Christian leader, correctly identifies the endgame of these policies: “The ones celebrating this are the ones leaning toward this Christian nationalist bent, this ideology that Christians should have dominion over the United States government.” This is not a project to protect religious freedom; it is a project to establish a state religion in all but name, a fundamental threat to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This systematic effort to dismantle the separation of church and state, to use the power of the federal government to impose a specific theological worldview, and to have a sitting cabinet member endorse the disenfranchisement of half the population is not just a policy disagreement. It is a profound violation of the President’s oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” and adds yet another powerful and deeply troubling article to the ever-growing case for his impeachment.