The National Committee for Religious Freedom

03/12/2025

Chase Bank, which debanked the National Committee for Religious Freedom in May 2022 just weeks after opening our bank account, has agreed to amend its Code of Conduct to prevent future discrimination on the basis of religious or political views. This is a great victory for Americans of faith but we must remain diligent to protect our constitutional rights.

Following extensive negotiations with our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, Chase has made two changes to its Code of Conduct. First, “religious views” are now on its list of protected characteristics in its Diversity and Inclusion policy, treated the same as factors such as age or gender.

More importantly, the Code of Conduct which has always vaguely prohibited the concept of discrimination, now specifically prohibits “conduct against employees, customers, suppliers or contractors, or any other individual who conduct business or seek to do business with our firm based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, religious affiliation, or religious views, national origin or ancestry, gender, military status, disability, martial or familial status, political opinions, speech or affiliations, age, or any status protected under applicable local law.”

While this is a win for religious freedom, Chase Bank is just one bank, albeit the nation’s largest, and there is more work to be done. We must make sure Chase honors this agreement. Other banks should make similar commitments and we are working with Congress to enact legislation to address debanking. Just last week the NCRF met with Senate staffers and this week we are speaking with committee staff in the House.

FoxBusiness.com has the first article on this: https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6369900765112 . You can see the agreement athttps://adfmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/chaseagreementsigned.pdf and ADF’s press release at https://adfmedia.org/press-release/debanking-to-the-dustbin-jpmorgan-chase-enacts-major-policy-change-to-prevent-future-discrimination/ . Monday night the New York Post published an Op Ed from NCRF Chairman Sam Brownback: https://nypost.com/2025/03/10/opinion/i-was-debanked-by-jpmorgan-chase-but-fought-back-and-won/ .

In addition to ADF, we also want to thank Jerry Bowyer with Bowyer Research for successfully working with Chase to implement these changes. Jerry is a long-time advocate for religious Americans on shareholder proposals and has been an invaluable resource to the NCRF.

We found that most debanking victims are conservative or religious. Now, Chase is becoming the first major US bank to announce it will end faith-based and political discrimination.

06/30/2023

The Supreme Court ended its term with some major victories for religious freedom. First, in Groff v DeJoy it ruled that employers must make religious accommodations for their employees unless "the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business." This new standard replaces a de minimis cost standard that almost always found employers prevailing when there was a dispute.

Today the Court ruled that the government cannot compel a web designer to create a website that she disagrees with, in this case a website for a same-sex wedding. This is a major First Amendment victory, both for religious freedom and freedom of speech.

05/05/2023

We commend these attorneys general for calling on Chase Bank
"to stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included." Chase debanked the NCRF and if they can do it to us, they can do it to anyone.

Thanks to Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Attorney General Steve Marshall, State of Alaska Department of Law, Attorney General Tim Griffin, Ashley Moody, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, Attorney General Todd Rokita, Office of the Attorney General of Iowa, Kris Kobach, Office of the Louisiana Attorney General, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Alan Wilson, Texas Attorney Generall, Utah Attorney General's Office, Jason Miyares and Office of West Virginia Attorney General.

19 Republican attorneys general sent a letter to JPMorgan Chase & Co., on Tuesday demanding the company stop discrimination against customers with certain religious or political affiliations.

04/18/2023

On Yom HaShoah let us remember what can happen when those in positions of authority have the ability to persecute those with different religious beliefs. We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust. We owe it to the victims to remember so that it never happens again.

04/18/2023

Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in Groff v DeJoy, a major religious freedom case. A 1977 ruling made religious freedom the least protected right under the Civil RIghts Act. It is time to correct that mistake and support the right of employees to practice their faith. Reasonable accomodations should be made to respect an employee's religious beliefs.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday hears the case of former mail carrier Gerald Groff, focused on how much employers must accommodate individual religious practice.

04/18/2023

We're glad to hear the new contract and new vendor are under review but why did Walter Reed National Military Medical Center think it appropriate to replace Catholic priests with a secular company for providing pastoral services in the first place? We are mistreating our servicemembers if we deny them the spiritual care they need and deserve. They risk their lives to protect us so the least we can do is make sure their souls are protected as well.

The management of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has drawn criticism from a prominent archbishop -- and some members of Congress. The reason: Its decision not to renew a contract for Franciscan priests to provide pastoral care, and to hire a secular firm to oversee provision of those s...

04/18/2023

Chaplains perform an important role in serving the needs of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. As if it wasn't bad enough that Catholic priests were replaced by a secular, low cost bidder, priests who tried to minister at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center afterwards were slapped with a cease and desist order.

The archbishop of the U.S. Archdiocese for Military Services (AMS) has sharply criticized a military hospital’s decision to remove Franciscan priests during Holy Week 2023.

03/29/2023

Banks shouldn't cancel their customers based on ideology. Chase Bank enjoys numerous public benefits and should not discriminate against religious-affilliated groups. We look forward to reading this report that JP Morgan clearly doesn't want.

JPMorgan Chase must allow a resolution related to debanking on its proxy materials for the annual shareholder meeting, the SEC ruled.

03/15/2023

Unfortunately, was not an isolated incident. This column by The National Committee for Religious Freedom Chairman Sam Brownback and ADF International shows the dangerous trend of banks debanking groups with viewpoints they don't like.

It's clear from our organizations' experiences that politicized banking is a real threat and that it's on the rise, but we're pushing back.

03/15/2023

Religious freedom is under attack at America’s universities and the Biden Administration’s Department of Education wants to repeal one of the strongest weapons we have in defense of this vital First Amendment right. It’s not too late to voice your opposition.

Last week FoxNews.com posted a column from NCRF Chairman Sam Brownback outlining the importance of the existing rule and explaining why it is needed. Read it here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/team-biden-cant-bothered-investigate-attacks-faith-college

The proposed rule would eliminate the following language from existing regulations:
https://www.regulations.gov/document/ED-2022-OPE-0157-0001

“…a public institution shall not deny to any student organization whose stated mission is religious in nature and that is at the public institution any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution (including but not limited to full access to the facilities of the public institution, distribution of student fee funds, and official recognition of the student organization by the public institution) because of the religious student organization's beliefs, practices, policies, speech, membership standards, or leadership standards, which are informed by sincerely held religious beliefs.”

If you believe that religious student groups should not be treated any differently from other student groups, the National Committee for Religious Freedom encourages you to submit comments on this proposal. Comments must be submitted on or before March 24, 2023.

For more information, including a link to submit comments, visit the NCRF website at www.thencrf.org/college-campuses.

Religious Freedom Protections Under Assault by Biden Administration Department of Education Religious freedom is under attack at America’s universities and the Biden Administration’s Department of Education wants to repeal one of the strongest weapons we have in defense of this vital First Amend...

01/03/2023

The NCRF is proud to support LeAnna Cumber for Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. She is a leader in the fight against antisemitism and religious bigotry in the community and people of all faiths will be well-served by her leadership.

11/13/2022

Congratulations to Monica De La Cruz on being elected to serve the people of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives. The NCRF proudly endorsed Representative Monica De La Cruz because we believe that our nation needs strong leaders who will protect and defend religious freedom for all Americans, just as our Founders intended when they ratified the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.