A handful of federal employees have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins.
According to Fox News, the plaintiffs accused Rollins of “Christian proselytizing” after she sent USDA employees an Easter email message filled with Christian language and imagery.
“Happy Easter,” the email read in part. “He is Risen indeed! Today we celebrate the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.”
The employees’ complaint state that the email also included the words “Christ is Risen,” along with a drawing of an empty tomb, according to Fox.
Seven USDA employees, joined by the National Federation of Federal Employees, brought the complaint May 13, Fox reported.
According to Fox, the plaintiffs accused Rollins 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,” all of which, they claimed, amounted to “coercion, religious sermonizing and denominational preference” and made them feel “excluded and unwelcome.”
By “increasingly proselytizing communications,” the plaintiffs meant a pair of 2025 holiday messages.
“May God continue to protect the United States of America and may His favor shine over all her land,” Rollins allegedly wrote, for instance, in a Fourth of July email, Fox reported.
Then, later in the year, the complaint states, a Christmas video from Rollins referred to Jesus as “our Savior,” according to Fox.
According to Fox, a USDA representative would not discuss the lawsuit, but did offer one comment.
“While we do not comment on pending litigation, we will keep the plaintiffs in our prayers during this process,” the representative told the network.
Meanwhile, Rollins gave a similar response on the social media platform X.
“It’s just another opportunity to remind everyone: He is Risen,” the secretary wrote on Wednesday.
It’s just another opportunity to remind everyone: He is Risen.https://t.co/09RgO98Wg0
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 13, 2026
Alveda C. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., echoed Rollins’ sentiment.
“#religiousliberty is for everyone, including Christians. Agree, another wonderful opportunity,” King wrote.
#religiousliberty is for everyone, including Christians. Agree, another wonderful opportunity.
— Alveda C. King, Ph.D. (@AlvedaCKing) May 14, 2026
More broadly, of course, federal employees have maintained a largely adversarial relationship with President Donald Trump’s administration.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, for instance, rankled many federal bureaucrats.
In the 2024 election, those bureaucrats, many of whom reside in the hyper-affluent Washington D.C. suburbs, voted overwhelmingly for then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
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