Congressman Keith Self Introduces Bill to Support and Protect Our Military Chaplains

Congressman Keith Self introduced the Military Chaplains Act of 2025 alongside Congressman Morgan Luttrell in an effort to support and protect military chaplains across all branches of the armed forces.

Various bad actors within the Department of Defense have undermined statutory protections and retaliated against military chaplains in an effort to secularize the military chaplaincy program. This included, but was not limited to, chaplains who were punished for: providing solicited Biblical teaching on human sexuality; seeking a religious exemption from the COVID19 vaccine; delivering sermons or performing rites, rituals, or counseling consistent with tenets of their faith. These punishments often included downgraded performance reports, resulting in missed promotions and involuntary separation from the armed forces. Others included degraded fitness reports, removal from their operational unit, travel permission denials, mandatory training denials, and many other forms of retribution that directly harmed—and for those who were not separated, continue to harm—their careers.

While basic protections exist for the chaplain’s religious freedom and rights of conscience— including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Section 533 of the Fiscal Year 2013 NDAA, and the First Amendment—explicit statutory protections for chaplains within the Department of Defense are still needed. Currently, the above statutes are fully captured in DoDI 1300.17 as well as the individual regulations for each military branch. However, these protections are not codified in Title 10 of the United States Code.

Additionally, Title 10 does not lay out the full scope of chaplains’ duties. In some of the branches, Title 10 allows chaplains to perform rites, rituals, and ceremonies. There are many other things chaplains can and should be doing, such as advising command on moral decision making. There are many areas where they are permitted to do these things, but because it is not explicitly stated in statute, it is not consistently implemented across branches.

“The military chaplain’s ability to freely exercise their religious duties is not only a Constitutional right, but it is essential to forming the conscience and character of our warfighters,” said Congressman Self. “As someone who benefited from the counsel of chaplains during my 25 years in the Army, I believe we must ensure they can serve without sacrificing their God-given freedoms. Though we currently have an administration that values the chaplain corps, that may not always be the case. That’s why this legislation to safeguard religious liberty in our armed forces is urgently needed.”

If enacted, the Military Chaplains Act would:

1. Establish statutory protections for chaplains, ensuring they can live and serve in 
alignment with their sincerely held religious beliefs and the tenets of their religious 
endorsing organization.  

2. Clarify the broad scope of a chaplain’s purpose, role, and duties. These duties extend 
beyond facilitating the free exercise of religion to include advising on spiritual matters, 
including policy and command decisions. 

3. Provide explicit statutory protections, subject to prosecution under the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice, that all responsibilities are free from “censorship, undue restriction, or 
fear of retribution.” 

4. Institute a clear standardization of the chaplain across branches of the armed forces. 

This bill is currently supported by First Liberty Institute and Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty (CALL).

“Chaplains are leaders in our fighting force, responsible for maintaining spiritual readiness. It is imperative that we provide them with the tools and protections necessary to fulfill their duties in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs and the tenets of their religious endorsing body. The Military Chaplains Act of 2025 not only provides these tools but also ensures that chaplains can serve without censorship, undue restrictions, or fear of retribution.”

—Erin Smith, Associate Counsel at First Liberty Institute

“The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty fully supports the Military Chaplains Act of 2025 and believes it is long overdue! No service member should ever be denied their constitutionally protected rights to freely exercise their religious beliefs, and this law will ensure our Military Chaplains are decidedly the most qualified among religious professionals.”

—Bishop Derek Jones, Executive Director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty

Read the full bill text HERE.

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