The USDA secretary is a dangerous religious zealot like Pete Hegseth [View all]

The USDA secretary is a dangerous religious zealot like Pete Hegseth
Brooke Rollins is being sued for blitzing her staff with Christian emails

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published May 25, 2026 8:35AM (EDT)


(Salon) Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins isn’t as dramatic with religious theatrics as some of her colleagues in Donald Trump’s Cabinet, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but that shouldn’t fool anyone. A recent lawsuit from staff members alleges that Rollins has been “promoting her own preferred brand of Christian beliefs and theology to the captive audience of employees,” largely through proselytizing emails sent to the whole staff at the USDA, which make them “fear the negative consequences of not sharing the Secretary’s religion.” The details in the lawsuit reveal that the former Cotton Bowl Queen is just as committed a Christian nationalist as the more belligerent Hegseth.

That might seem like a bold claim at first blush. Hegseth has drawn attention for his aggressive, even violent rhetoric that treats Christianity as a war-mongering faith focused more on punishing non-believers than the more Jesus-like aspirations of love and charity. The defense secretary is so devoted to reimagining Jesus as a vengeful prophet that he got caught giving a sermon-like speech in which he appeared to pass off dialogue from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” as Bible verses. In contrast, the emails Rollins sent her staff leaned sentimental, reminiscent of religious tracts being handed out by smiling elderly evangelicals proselytizing to heathens on the street.

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But the plaintiffs are right that Rollins is a bully — and that her actions are about making people who have different beliefs feel “alienated, marginalized, and unwelcome.” Anyone who has spent significant time around the Christian right knows that behind the tight smiles and cheer often lies a deep well of hostility toward anyone who is different. Rollins and her allies illustrated this phenomenon perfectly in their response to the lawsuit.

“While we do not comment on pending litigation, we will keep the plaintiffs in our prayers during this process,” the USDA spokeperson wrote in the official agency response to the lawsuit. Rollins, similarly, tweeted an article about the lawsuit with the statement, “It’s just another opportunity to remind everyone: He is Risen.”

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Rollins’ proselytizing in the federal workplace signals that conservative Christians are the only legitimate Americans and that everyone else should be treated as second class. She belongs to the same administration that just helped host Rededicate 250, which promoted false claims that the U.S. was intended by the Founders to be a Christian nation. Because “Christian nation” sounds abstract, this myth doesn’t ring the alarm bells that it should with too many voters. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/05/25/the-usda-secretary-is-a-dangerous-religious-zealot-like-pete-hegseth/