Religious Liberty, the Source of All Freedoms: A 250-Year Perspective

The culture of freedom we enjoy in the United States is deeply shaped by religious minorities seeking to honor God in their beliefs and orders of worship from the colonial period to the present day. Marc Wheat introduced the historical and legal context for the First Amendment, thereby establishing the foundation for our Friday Forum titled “Religious Liberty and Parental Opt-Outs: School Choice at the Supreme Court” in partnership with Becket. 

This talk is a part of our Founding Freedoms Lecture Series, that seeks to help Capitol Hill Staff think more deeply about the freedoms bequeathed to this nation – and the religious tenets that undergird them. 

Mr. Marc Wheat is the General Counsel for Advancing American Freedom, a policy advocacy group founded by Vice President Mike Pence in 2021. Advancing American Freedom is ranked fourth in amicus briefs filed at the cert stage of Supreme Court cases out of any organization – right behind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Wheat has filed 92 Amicus Briefs (49 in the Supreme Court) representing 326 organizations across the full spectrum of the conservative movement.
AAF Received the Best Amicus Brief Award of 2024 from the New Civil Liberties Alliance for its brief in Davidson v. Gensler.

Mr. Wheat got his start as an intern in the House of Representatives. He was a legislative assistant in a personal office, counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and staff director and chief counsel to the Subcommittee on Criminal
Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. He has also served in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a member of the board of Faith and Law.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree at Scalia Law School.