U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins speaks to members of the media in front of the White House on Friday, March 27, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Aaron Schwartz | Sipa | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent an Easter email to USDA employees emphasizing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, but some Christians argued that this message was alienated by its overt religiosity.
“Happy Easter — he is indeed risen,” Rollins wrote in an email sent on Good Friday, which was confirmed and first reported by CNBC.
“From the foot of the cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the empty tomb, sin was destroyed,” Rollins wrote.
“Jesus rose from the dead, and God has given each of us victory and new life. And where there is life, there is resurrected life, there is hope.”
The email included an illustration of a round stone that had fallen from the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, with the words “Christ Risen” written above the image.
A USDA official who spoke to CNBC said the email was offensive to him as a devout Christian and as a USDA employee who works with “people of other faiths, Muslims, Hindus.”
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said other USDA officials were also offended by Rollins’ message.
“From a Christian nationalist perspective, people don’t buy into brands like hers,” the staffer said. “It misses the point from many angles.”
“Actually, I think it’s blasphemous because it contrasts with the message of Jesus,” they said.
Asked for comment about Rollins’ email and the response to it, a USDA spokesperson said in an email to CNBC: “The Secretary has the right to send a message to employees and the public over the Easter holiday, just as USDA secretaries and presidents have done in the past.”
The email was the subject of a thread on the social media site Reddit, with one commenter writing, “I’m a fed Christian and I’m completely offended by this crap!!! It makes me want to puke that they’re using Christ as an excuse for such terrible behavior.”
Another commentator wrote, “Christ was indeed resurrected. But that’s what I say as a Lutheran.”
“It is shameful to advocate religion as a public official,” the commenter wrote. “My faith guides my life and is not important to the service I provide as a public servant, and if I were to actively defend Christianity, I would be doing a disservice to fighters whose faiths differ from mine.
“God’s hand has been the driving force behind everything I’ve ever done. Ever since I can remember, God has been a big part of everything, even when I didn’t really want to,” Rollins said in an interview with the Billy Graham Evangelical Society’s Decision magazine in June 2025.
The interview was headlined, “Q&A with Brooke Rollins: Fighting for America’s Soul: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Shapes Policy on Biblical Teachings.”
“For years, while majoring in agriculture at Texas A&M and then getting a law degree from the University of Texas, I really wanted to eventually go to seminary and become a youth minister. That was where my heart was,” Rollins said in an interview.
In the same interview, Rollins talked about participating in Bible studies with other ministers.
When asked if there is a Bible verse that often comes to mind, Rollins said, “The one that really speaks to me right now is Romans 13:12, which puts on the armor of light.”
“And I really feel that. There’s just a lot of darkness. Not in this White House and my current boss, President Trump, and our Cabinet, but in the entire government and on the other side who are fighting for the soul of America,” she said.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he believes God supports the United States against Iran, which is majority Shiite Muslim.
“I think so because God is good,” President Trump said in response to a question from reporters at the White House. “And God wants to see people valued.”
At the same briefing, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth likened the rescue of downed U.S. airmen in Iran to the story of Jesus’ resurrection.
“You know, it was shot down on Friday, Good Friday, it was hidden in caves and crevices all Saturday and it was rescued on Sunday,” Hegseth said. “As the sun rose on Easter Sunday, the pilot took off from Iran and was reborn.”
On Easter Sunday, President Trump posted on Truth Social warning Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or “you will live in hell – look! Praise be to Allah.”
Allah is the Arabic name for God in Islam.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt began her briefing with reporters on March 30 by telling reporters, “Can you hear us say, ‘Amen?’ We just prayed a little louder as a team.”
