WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission advanced a slate of recommendations at an April meeting in Washington, including a proposal for a federal hotline playing an automated recording stating there is no separation of church and state. The commission, chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, also recommended expanding religious expression in public schools, allowing religious-based exemptions in labor law, classroom lessons and healthcare mandates, and broadening opportunities for faith-based organizations to receive public money.

Trump formed the advisory panel last year, drawing most of its members from his base of conservative Christian supporters. Supreme Court decisions in recent years by its conservative majority have reflected views similar to the commission's recommendations.

"We need to say there is no separation of church and state. That's a lie," Patrick said at the April meeting, suggesting the printing of a million bumper stickers carrying the same message. No one at the meeting disagreed. Patrick, who has advocated for prayer and postings of the Ten Commandments in public schools, also addressed opposition to such measures. "But these organizations that are pushed by some ideology and pushed by someone's bank account who wants to remove God from our country? We need to push back," he said.

Trump echoed the theme in separate remarks. "They say separation between church and state. I said, all right, let's forget about that for one time," he said.

One commissioner called for awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to a baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Another called for the Department of Justice to intervene in courts on behalf of Amish parents fighting New York vaccine requirements and Catholic nuns challenging that state's requirement to accommodate hospice patients' gender identities. Various commissioners called for requiring schools and workplaces to post notices of the rights of religious expression and exemptions, and some called for restoring full pay and pension benefits for military service members discharged for refusing COVID-19 vaccines. One commissioner called for enabling religious groups such as Catholic Charities to receive federal money without compromising traditional church teachings about the family.

A progressive interreligious coalition has filed a lawsuit arguing the commission fails to comply with federal law requiring advisory panels to feature diverse members and viewpoints. The lawsuit asserts most commissioners are conservative Christian clerics and commentators, with one Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and notes that most commission meetings took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, an institution with Christian leadership. The coalition also says members have asserted that America is a Judeo-Christian or Christian nation. The Trump administration has asked a federal court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the law does not define how a commission should be fairly balanced or whose viewpoints should be represented. Several members are scheduled to take part in a May 17 prayer event marking the country's upcoming 250th birthday.