US House bill aims to strengthen military chaplains’ First Amendment freedoms

The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced legislation designed to defend the religious liberties of military chaplains.

Republican Texas Congressmen Keith Self and Morgan Luttrell sponsored the Chaplains Act of 2025 to establish protections for chaplains across all branches of the military, “ensuring they can live and serve in alignment with their sincerely held religious beliefs and the tenets of their religious endorsing organization,” Self explained in a press release. 

While the First Amendment and such laws as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act offer basic protections for religious freedom and rights of conscience, chaplains need more explicit safeguards, Self argued. 

“Various bad actors within the Department of Defense have undermined statutory protections and retaliated against military chaplains in an effort to secularize the military chaplaincy program,” he said. 

Chaplains have faced punishment for such “offenses” as providing biblical teaching on human sexuality, seeking a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine, and offering sermons or counseling to military members consistent with the tenets of their faith, according to Self. 

Furthermore, chaplains have faced punishment including downgraded performance reports, missed promotions and involuntary separation from the armed forces. 

The ability of military chaplains “to freely exercise their religious duties is not only a constitutional right, but it is essential to forming the conscience and character of our warfighters,” Self said. “As someone who benefited from the counsel of chaplains during my 25 years in the Army, I believe we must ensure they can serve without sacrificing their God-given freedoms 

In addition to establishing statutory protections for chaplains, the legislation would: 

• Clarify the scope of a chaplain’s duties extending beyond personal religious freedoms, including advising service members on spiritual matters that could impact policy and command decisions. 

• Provide statutory protections ensuring a chaplain’s responsibilities are free from “censorship, undue restriction or fear of retribution.” 

• Establish a clear standardization of the chaplaincy across all branches of the military. 

Bishop Derek Jones of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty has endorsed the measure.  

“No service member should ever be denied their constitutionally protected rights to freely exercise their religious beliefs,” Jones said. “This law will ensure our military chaplains are decidedly the most qualified among religious professionals and are supported as such.” 

First Liberty Institute, a religious freedom legal advocacy group, also offered its support for the bill. “Chaplains are leaders in our fighting force, responsible for maintaining spiritual readiness,” said First Liberty Associate Counsel Erin Smith. “It is imperative that we provide them with the tools and protections necessary to fulfill their duties in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs.” 

A flurry of cases over several years have demonstrated the need to buttress the religious freedoms of America’s military chaplains.  

For example, First Liberty defended a U.S. Navy chaplain threatened in 2014 with removal from duty after his sermons focused on the biblical definition of marriage. 

In another case, First Liberty defended an Army chaplain after he was disciplined for refusing to organize a marriage retreat for same-sex couples. 

Such cases send “a chilling message to men and women of faith in the military,” Smith said. “We must reaffirm the truth that our chaplains are not only allowed, but encouraged to be faithful witnesses, even within government institutions.” 

This proposed legislation “has been needed for a long time,” she added. “I think it accomplishes a lot of great things, and it will really help to protect the chaplaincy in the military for generations to come.”