In January 2018, the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established a new division in its Office for Civil Rights (OCR): the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division (CRFD). According to HHS, the CRFD was established to “more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.” However, the OCR’s Civil Rights Division (CRD) already had jurisdiction over enforcing conscience and religious freedom laws and was doing so effectively. Moreover, conscience-related complaints have historically averaged at just 1.25 per year. The establishment of an entire division for such an issue is troubling in that it indicates a reprioritization of the OCR’s mission.
HHS’ latest budget proposal further illuminates the shifted priorities of the OCR and its director, Roger Severino. Among other things, the proposal seeks to weaken enforcement of civil rights protections and give credence to discrimination against LGBTQ people. This column takes a look at how the OCR budget requests reflect the priorities of the Trump administration when it comes to civil rights—and how Severino’s policies are particularly harmful to the civil rights of LGBTQ people.
HHS’ OCR budget requests make the priorities of the Trump administration clear
In its fiscal year 2019 budget justification, HHS reported that it experienced a 48 percent increase in civil rights cases from FY 2016 to FY 2017, as well as an 18 percent increase in health information privacy cases during that period. In its FY 2020 budget request, the department also reported a 10 percent increase in cases from FY 2017 to FY 2018, but it did not disaggregate between the increase in civil rights cases and the increase in privacy cases.