Religious Seasonal Decorations in Federal Government Buildings
15
Ordinance to continue in effect). The same week it proposed the Estab-
lishment Clause, Res. of Sept. 25, 1789, 1 Stat. 97, 97–98, the First Con-
gress provided paid chaplains to both the House and Senate, Act of Sept.
22, 1789, ch. 17, § 4, 1 Stat. 70, 71; see also Marsh v. Chambers, 463
U.S. 783, 787–88 (1983). Congress also has provided for a paid chaplains
corps for our military forces ever since the First Continental Congress.
10
The Judiciary Act of 1789 prescribed an oath for Supreme Court justices,
federal judges, federal marshals, and clerks of court that concluded with
the phrase “So help me God.”
11
The oath of office of the President does
not include those words, but President Washington is believed to have
added the phrase to the end of his first oath, and Presidents have done so
by tradition since. See John R. Alden, George Washington: A Biography
236 (1984); Newdow v. Roberts, 603 F.3d 1002, 1018 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
(Kavanaugh, J., concurring). Sessions of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives have opened with a prayer since the First Continental Congress
did so in 1774. Presidents have proclaimed National Days of Prayer,
following the example of the first Continental Congress in 1775.
12
The
10
See Katcoff v. Marsh, 755 F.2d 223, 232 (2d Cir. 1985) (“Congress’[s] authorization
of a military chaplaincy before and contemporaneous with the adoption of the Establish-
ment Clause is also ‘weighty evidence’ that it did not intend that Clause to apply to such a
chaplaincy.” (quoting Wisconsin v. Pelican Ins., 127 U.S. 265, 297 (1888)).
11
Act of Sept. 24, 1789, ch. 20, § 8, 1 Stat. 73, 76 (oath for Supreme Court justices
and federal judges, codified as amended at 28 U.S.C. 453); id. § 27, 1 Stat. at 87 (oath for
U.S. marshals); id. § 7, 1 Stat. at 76 (oath for clerks of court, codified as amended at 28
U.S.C. § 951). The current oath of office for those “elected or appointed to an office of
honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services,” including members of Congress
but excluding the President, includes “So help me God.” 5 U.S.C. § 3331 (derived from
Act of Feb. 15, 1871, ch. 53, 16 Stat. 412, 412 (initially codified at Rev. Stat. § 1757, 18
Stat., pt. 1, at 314 (1875)).
12
See Derek H. Davis, Religion and the Continental Congress: 1774–1789 84, 90
(2000). In 1952, Congress directed “[t]hat the President shall set aside and proclaim a
suitable day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the
people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in
groups, and as individuals.” Pub. L. No. 324, 66 Stat. 64. President Truman accordingly
proclaimed July 4, 1952, as the first National Day of Prayer. Proc. No. 2978 (June 17,
1952), 3 C.F.R. 32, 32 (1952 Supp.). Today the National Day of Prayer is the first Thurs-
day in May. 36 U.S.C. § 119. Presidents have routinely issued other proclamations
encouraging citizens to pray on various matters of concern. See, e.g., Proc. No. 9634, 82
Fed. Reg. 42,439, 42,439 (Sept. 7, 2017) (“I urge Americans of all faiths and religious
traditions and backgrounds to offer prayers today for all those harmed by Hurricane