We’re suing the United States Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins for violating the separation of church and state and the religious freedom promised in our Constitution.
During her approximately fifteen months at the helm of the USDA, Secretary Rollins has adopted a practice of sending increasingly proselytizing communications to the entire USDA workforce, promoting her own preferred brand of Christian beliefs and theology to the captive audience of employees that report to her. The Secretary’s practice reached a crescendo with an April 5, 2026 Easter email, in which she heralded “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.” The Secretary proclaimed, “Hell took a body, and discovered God,” and “Jesus has been raised from the dead.” She described her USDA subordinates as being “like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord . . . almost two thousand years ago.”
So, on behalf of a group of federal employees and a union representing federal employees, we joined Democracy Forward and Bryan Schwartz Law in suing the USDA and Secretary Rollins. The lawsuit—filed in the United States District Court for the District of Northern California—argues that Secretary Rollins exploited her position by imposing her brand of Christianity on a captive audience of 100,000 USDA employees in violation of the Establishment Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act.
