President Donald Trump has appointed 13 individuals to serve on the United States Religious Liberty Commission.
On Thursday, at the White House, establishing the commission during the National Day of Prayer event.
The body is charged with the responsibility of safeguarding and promoting America’s founding principle of religious freedom.
The president named Dan Patrick as the chairman. He was first elected Texas Lieutenant Governor in 2014, and subsequently re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
The vice chairman, Dr Ben Carson, is a renowned paediatric neurosurgeon who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration.
Members include Ryan T. Anderson, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota; Dr Phil McGraw, host of Dr. Phil and bestselling author; and Carrie Prejean Boller, author and Miss USA first runner-up in 2009.
Others are Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York; Pastor Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Allyson Ho, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; and Eric Metaxas, writer and radio host.
The remaining members are Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States; Pastor Paula White, President of the National Faith Advisory Board; and Kelly Shackelford, President and CEO of First Liberty Institute.
