House Panel Subpoenas Group Over State Department Atheism Grant

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas.) speaks with reporters after the House Republicans meeting securing the GOP nomination for House Speaker in Washington on Oct. 11, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has subpoenaed a group over not handing over documents to the GOP-led committee related to a $500,000 grant it received from the State Department to promote atheism abroad.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), announced the subpoena on Aug. 8, citing the group, Humanists International, for not being transparent with Congress.

Humanism is a secular, atheist doctrine. The website for Humanists International describes the creed as rejecting “supernatural or divine beliefs.”

Humanists International is one of the groups that received funding from the State Department grant in question, titled “Promoting and Defending Religious Freedom Inclusive of Atheist, Humanist, Non-Practicing and Non-Affiliated Individuals.”

McCaul has been looking to obtain records related to the grant since August last year.

“For too long, organizations with extreme, ideological agendas—like Humanists International—have been allowed to implement publicly funded programs far from the public eye and with minimal congressional oversight,” said McCaul in a statement.

A State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the department spent about 2,000 hours of staff time to provide briefings and written responses to requests for information, transcribe interviews, and produce more than 2,200 pages of documents.

What was the first and only grant to Humanists International ended in March, according to the spokesperson.

“The department took immediate action and also continues its review of the grantee’s work to ensure it comports with its obligations as set forth in the grant agreement and complied with Department policy and federal law,” said the spokesperson.

“Department of State programs are designed to only promote the ability of all individuals to have or adopt the religion or beliefs of their choice, free from abuses, discrimination, and violence,” continued the spokesperson. “The purpose of the grant was to promote freedom of religion or belief among participants, and any promotion of a specific religious belief would be counter to the Establishment Clause.”

Humanists International did not respond to a request for comment about the subpoena.

The committee had given the State Department until Aug. 6 to produce documentation of correspondence between the department and Humanists International.

Humanist International, according to its website, “is the global representative body at the heart of the humanist movement.”

In December 2022, the State Department declined to hand over documents to House Republicans regarding grants to organizations advocating atheism abroad. At the time, the GOP was in the minority in the House and, therefore, did not have subpoena power.

A point of contention regarding the House GOP’s issue with the atheism-related grants is whether they violate the Constitutional clause that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The State Department, like most government entities, gets its funding from Congress.