Religious Freedom Arguments Give Rise To Executive Order Battle
Legislative remedies prove ineffective in reconciling religious freedom claims with concerns about discrimination, so the battle is waged via executive orders.
Key government policies on religious freedom and discrimination, once set through legislation, are increasingly dictated by presidential orders, meaning they shift capriciously from one administration to the next.
In 2014, advocates for LGBTQ rights cheered when President Barack Obama unilaterally issued an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring practices on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Four years later, the Trump administration weakened that order with a unilateral move directing that contractors facing a discrimination claim under Obama's order should be entitled to a "religious exemption."
The Labor Department then proposed that would give the directive the force of law
