USDA Secretary Faces Lawsuit for Explicitly Christian Messages to Employees
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has been speaking openly about the Christian faith — and some secularists do not like it.
A lawsuit filed on May 13 by groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State on behalf of multiple USDA employees claimed that Rollins’ pattern of “proselytizing Christian messaging” violates the First Amendment.
The complaint whined about messages like an email sent to all USDA employees on April 5 — which was Easter Sunday.
“To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian.”
— General George Washington, General Orders to the Continental Army, 2 May 1778 https://t.co/if88chcW48
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) April 8, 2026
“He is risen indeed!” the message said, per a report from The Christian Post.
“From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed. Jesus has been raised from the dead,” Rollins wrote.
“And so like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord in the Upper Room almost two thousand years ago, this Easter let us too be alive with hope, full of Paschal joy, and confident in the mission each of us has been called for,” it added.
The email made no demands of USDA employees to become Christians or otherwise tried to link the Easter holiday to their roles and responsibilities.
Rollins reacted to the lawsuit on social media, indicating that she does not regret sending the communications.
“It’s just another opportunity to remind everyone: He is Risen,” she wrote.
It’s just another opportunity to remind everyone: He is Risen.https://t.co/09RgO98Wg0
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 13, 2026
But the lawsuit complained that the “escalating pattern of subjecting all USDA employees to proselytizing” displayed by Rollins has come “from her position of authority.”
“She 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, directly or indirectly,” the lawsuit said.
There were similar emails from Rollins sent on the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.
The lawsuit also bemoaned that she “dramatically escalated her religious sermonizing in a Christmas message” on Dec. 23.
That message said, “The spirit of generosity flows from the very first Christmas when God gave us the greatest gift possible, the gift of his Son and our Savior Jesus Christ, who came to free us from our sins and open the door to eternal life.”
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