A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by an interfaith group challenging President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. The plaintiffs argued that the commission’s predominantly conservative Christian composition lacked the legally required balance of viewpoints.

Judge John P. Cronan explained that while federal law requires advisory commissions to have balanced viewpoints, the law does not specify how this balance should be achieved. The New York judge noted that Trump has considerable discretion in selecting commission members.

The lawsuit was brought by plaintiffs including the Interfaith Alliance, along with Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh groups. They claimed the commission was imbalanced, consisting mainly of conservative Christians and one Orthodox Jewish rabbi. Several commissioners had questioned the separation of church and state, advocating for the idea of America as a Judeo-Christian nation. Critics pointed to a draft report issued by the commission in June, which challenged recent interpretations of church-state separation, promoting the creation of “bridges” between the two.

Judge Cronan concluded the lawsuit did not meet the necessary legal standards to proceed. He mentioned that the commission was diverse in other respects, including both clergy and lay participants, representing at least five different religious affiliations, such as various Christian denominations and one Jewish member.

The Interfaith Alliance argued the commission lacked balance, as members prioritized religious beliefs over civil rights of minority groups. However, Trump’s executive order forming the commission rejected the notion that religious liberty conflicts with civil rights, thus not obligating the inclusion of dissenting perspectives.

The Interfaith Alliance has been critical of the commission’s recent draft report, pointing out its failure to address significant issues such as anti-Muslim violence and policies that favor certain religious groups.

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