Samira Munshi, the only Muslim woman to serve on US President Donald Trump’s Religious Freedom Commission, announced her resignation, saying she was stepping down “in protest.”
“Munshi shared the ad on X, where the post quickly gained traction. She explained in the letter that she was working as a presidential appointee and advisor to the White House Religious Freedom Committee.She stated that her resignation came because of what she described as “the injustice and atrocities of this administration at home and abroad.” The post also included a Substack article where she explained the reasons behind her resignation.
Munshi said in her article that she would step down “in protest” against two developments that she described as extremely worrying.The first was the dismissal of Commissioner Carrie Prejean Buehler, which she said was due to the latter’s beliefs on Palestine.The second is what it called the government’s illegal war against Iran, which it said was “carried out without a constitutional mandate or clear authorization from Congress.”
Munshi also alleged that some members of the committee “mocking my faith and treating my community with hostility.”Despite this, she said she initially accepted the appointment in 2025 in the hope of remaining a “voice of reason.”Munshi claimed that the rights of American Muslims were being “marginalized” and that their presence was met with hate speech aimed at “promoting certain political agendas.” She also revealed that her family, both Christian and Muslim, came to America “to escape religious discrimination and persecution,” which shaped her commitment to religious freedom, and her belief in America as a safe haven for “people of all faiths.” However, I found that the committee was motivated by ulterior motives. She claimed that people of faith have been stripped of their freedom of expression and their lives put in danger, due to their deeply held beliefs about Palestine, all for the sake of a “Zionist political agenda.”
Here, she cited the example of the impeachment of Brejean Buller, saying the commissioner’s religious stance was treated as an affront to freedom of expression and religious liberty. It also condemned the Trump administration’s unlawful killing of children and civilians in Iran, at the request of a genocidal state. She added: “Not only are the American people against this aggression, but our tax dollars fund the same violence we oppose, both against innocent Palestinians and now Iranians.”
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Finally, she boldly added that she was not resigning because of “fear or intimidation” from anyone affiliated with the Commission, the government or any interest group. But she blamed what she considered to be the injustice of the committee members for the reason. He added: “I support America more than Israel, and unfortunately this means that I cannot support Trump or this government.”Munshi supported Brijean Buehler, who revealed Thursday that the president, who appoints all commissioners, had fired her over what she believed was her stance against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and her pushback against those who called her an anti-Semite because of her anti-Zionist views. Her expulsion came after a video of her heated exchange at a committee meeting in February, where she insisted that Catholicism and Zionism were incompatible. Furthermore, Munshi, who was director of the Religious Freedom Institute, told Middle East Eye that she began to feel isolated from the program as early as September 2025, when she testified before the committee about what she said was a constitutionally protected right in schools to protect Israel’s killing of Palestinians. She described: “After I testified about Palestine, I stopped receiving witness lists before every hearing, so I don’t know if that was a coincidence, or if it was organizational, or just a misunderstanding on their part, or if they were literally against me about what I was testifying to.” The war launched by Israel on Gaza resulted in the deaths of 72,136 Palestinians. According to Reuters, by March 9, Iranian state media reported that the death toll in the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel had reached 1,270 people. While Americans have been protesting the war between Israel and Hamas since 2023, they absolutely oppose war with Iran. According to a CNN poll conducted by SRSS, nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the US decision to take military action in Iran.
