WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Levin said the Defense Department “is not a church,” after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an Office of Religious Affairs and said chaplains will have “an advocate at the highest levels.”
Levin, a California Democrat who represents a district that includes Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, posted the line on X on Oct. 2. He was quoting a clip of Hegseth’s Sept. 30 address at Marine Corps Base Quantico. He wrote that he is “a man of faith,” that the First Amendment exists so no American has to wonder whether the government is working “for them or for a particular set of religious beliefs,” and that “this is the government taking a side on religion, and that is a line the Constitution does not allow us to cross.”
The Department of Defense exists to defend the United States. It is not a church. I’m a man of faith, and my faith matters deeply to me. But the First Amendment exists precisely so that no American, regardless of their religion or lack of one, ever has to wonder whether their government is working for them or for a particular set of religious beliefs. This Administration seems to be confused. The separation of church and state isn’t an attack on religion. It’s what protects everyone’s freedom to practice it. This is the government taking a side on religion, and that is a line the Constitution does not allow us to cross.
In the department’s posted address, Hegseth said, “Today, at my direction, I’m establishing the Office of Religious Affairs.” He said that “starting today, and for Secretaries of War after me, the Office of Religious Affairs will report straight to the top. No staff filters. No bureaucratic dilution. A direct line to the Secretary.” He said, “This won’t be a paper pushing shop. It will have real teeth. It will protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support. The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels.”
He tied the office to a verse and to the founding army. “As Psalm 33:12 extols us: ‘Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.’” He said George Washington “made sure the Continental Army had chaplains back at the beginning, back in 1775,” that the department is “placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health,” and that “while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual.” A department write-up of the same speech quotes him saying, “Ninety-five percent of our force recognizes an Almighty God.” The write-up does not cite a survey for that figure.
The office is the last of six initiatives he listed that afternoon. The others were a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command, Project Meridian, FORTRESS America, a next base, and a corps of cadets. The address says the religious office reports to him and will protect budgets. It does not name a director, a staff, or a dollar figure. Chaplains already serve in each service. On his account, the new office is a channel for them to the secretary, not a new faith.
“It is not a church” and “taking a side on religion” are Levin’s reading. Hegseth described religious support, a direct line, and a verse. The posted text does not say a service member must hold a belief, and it does not repeal the chaplain’s existing duty to facilitate free exercise. Levin sits on Appropriations, including the military-construction and veterans subcommittee. His post does not cite a bill, a chaplain statute, or a case. The advocate line is the secretary’s.