NOTE: This piece was originally published at our Substack newsletter A Public Witness.
Alveda King wants employees of the U.S. Department of Labor to see themselves as doing God’s work. The rightwing anti-abortion activist and niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. added during the second monthly DoL prayer service that workers shouldn’t complain, and she criticized people who aren’t religious.
“You need to know that your work is very, very important. And so as we think about that and we consider it, there’s a scripture: if we don’t work, we don’t eat. That really is written, it’s just true,” she said with a laugh as she stood inside the DoL office building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (Jan. 14). “When we have people in the market and you know unemployment is a problem, people getting benefits that they so strongly deserve can be a problem. All of that. There are many, many problems, but if we can get our mindset to be in the solution instead of part of the problem and part of complaining — that’s not so easy to do, but it can be done. And the workloads sometimes can be huge. Don’t raise your hand, your boss might be in here, so don’t, don’t, don’t, do that, but do it as cheerfully as possible.”
While King preached about working without complaining so that one can eat, several union organizations were leading a rally for government employees to advocate for greater union rights for federal workers. With MLK’s federal holiday next week, several references were made to the civil rights leader who was literally killed while advocating for poor workers and union rights. Yet, that side of MLK was overlooked as the service talked in generalities about issues of justice and freeing the oppressed.
Screengrab as Alveda King speaks during a U.S. Department of Labor prayer service in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2026.
King also complained in her remarks about media coverage of the previous DoL prayer service. That service was first covered by A Public Witness, which was the only outlet to watch and report on the service. MS NOW and CNN later also covered the service based on our reporting and comments by anonymous DoL employees.
“Now, religious liberty, religious freedom. And I’m not going to go too far with this, but there was a little something in the news about how dare they pray at the Department of Labor. Well, we do,” King said. “Now, in America, it is still legal to pray, but it’s not legal to make somebody else pray. As a Christian, I pray in the name of Jesus, but I can’t make you do that, but you shouldn’t be able to tell me not to do that either.”
“I’m not going to make you pray. I’m not going to look to see if you are praying. But please don’t condemn me for praying,” King added during the government event (and not from a closet). “And I think everyone is here voluntarily today. No one was required to be here. Okay, so this is what liberty is. This is what justice is. And this is what righteousness is. Righteousness, peace, and joy, if you believe it in the Holy Ghost.”
Then, as she talked about the diversity of people in the room, she criticized nonbelievers: “We have different denominations, different faiths, and some have no faith — and those are the ones I would be more concerned about. If someone is totally without hope, can’t believe in anything, think the world is just falling apart, then that’s when we want justice to stand. And you bring justice every day you come to work.”
In the opening and closing remarks, to the service, Kenneth Wolfe, the director of the DoL’s Center for Faith, also emphasized people came voluntarily — remarks that seemed to be directed to others watching and not those present (because if employees came voluntarily they would already know it).
“Thank you for spending some time here of your own free will to give glory to God,” he declared at the start before launching into the same traditional Catholic prayer he started last month’s service with: “Direct, we beseech thee, O Lord, all our actions by thy holy inspiration, and carry them on by thy gracious assistance so that every work and prayer of ours may begin from thee and through thee be happily ended. We ask this in thy name, amen.”
At the end, Wolfe again emphasized that people chose to come to the service: “We appreciate everyone who chose to pray here today during lunchtime, giving a few minutes of your time to give glory to God.”
Prior to joining the Trump administration in his role at DoL, Wolfe wrote for various traditionalist Catholic publications, arguing for Mass to be in Latin. The Latin Mass has proved popular among some rightwing Trumpian Catholics in recent years, including Steve Bannon, Candace Owens, and Harrison Butker.
Screengrab as Alveda King (left) assists in leading hymn singing during a U.S. Department of Labor prayer service in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2026.
During Wednesday’s service, Alberto Calimano, a Catholic anti-abortion activist and senior advisor for the DoL Center for Faith, led those gathered in saying the Lord’s Prayer, which he introduced as “the Our Father.” He also said the Bible talks about the importance of justice and “freeing the oppressed” before asking everyone to join him in reading Micah 6:8 and Psalm 103:6 out loud from the program.
Later in the service, the DoL Center for Faith Deputy Director Brent Perrin noted the Bible teaches that “the release of captives is tied to the removal of iniquity.” So he asked those gathered to join him in reciting Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 53:6.
The service also included the singing of “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” “This Little Light of Mine” (which was not on the program but added by King), and “How Great Thou Art” (which was introduced as a favorite of MLK). Like last month, the closing song was “God Bless America,” which Perrin urged people to sing as a prayer “for our troops, for our law enforcement personnel, and for our leaders.”
DoL Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling said during the service that these monthly gatherings were “envisioned … as a time for people of all faiths to reflect and recenter amid our very busy schedules” and “to take a pause to reflect on the work we’re doing and our mission here, which is, of course, putting the American worker first.” Yet, January’s service only included readings from the Bible and only included Christian songs, prayers, and preaching.
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A New Tradition Amid Scandals
After attending a Christian worship service at the Pentagon in October, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer decided to start a similar monthly prayer service at DoL. The first one was a Christmas service last month full of Christian prayers and hymns. It also included a recognition of Hanukkah with remarks by a Trump-backing rabbi who used the occasion to attack same-sex marriage, transgender people, and abortion. Chavez-DeRemer later also attended a second Pentagon worship service last month, during which Franklin Graham gave a “Christmas” message about the importance of following a “God of war.”
Ahead of the first DoL prayer service, church-state groups criticized the new effort and urged its cancellation. Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (where I serve as vice chair of the national board of trustees), told me: “Secretary Chavez-DeRemer is abusing the power of her government office — and potentially misusing taxpayer-funded resources — to impose religion on federal workers. Even if this prayer service is presented as voluntary, there will be pressure on Labor Department employees to attend in order to appease their boss.” And Christopher Lines, legal counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, similarly noted in a letter to Chavez-DeRemer: “While you are free to participate in religious events and promote your personal religious beliefs in your capacity as a citizen, you cannot use government resources or the Department of Labor to advance your personal religious beliefs. … This is not only unconstitutional, but it also alienates the growing number of religiously unaffiliated citizens.”
The entrance to the U.S. Department of Labor is seen near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 7, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)
With the services spreading from the Pentagon to the DoL, it’s possible this trend of government-run worship services grows even more. King serves as senior advisor on faith and community outreach for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in that agency’s Center for Faith. She gave a shout-out to leadership from DoA’s Center for Faith who came with her to the DoL service. And Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins joined Chavez-DeRemer last month at the Pentagon’s Christmas service. During that service, host Jennifer Hegseth praised Rollins for leading a Bible study every other week for Cabinet members.
Under Chavez-DeRemer’s leadership, the DoL has also shared controversial posters on social media featuring muscular White men as the face of the nation and slogans seeming to echo Nazi propaganda. Multiple of those social media posters include Christian churches as part of this “American dream.”
Earlier this month, news broke of an internal DoL investigation into allegations that Chavez-DeRemer had an “inappropriate” relationship with a subordinate, had been drinking on the job, and used taxpayer funds to make personal trips. Two of her top aides were placed on administrative leave during the investigation since they are accused of helping facilitate her personal travel. The allegations were not mentioned during Wednesday’s prayer service, and Chavez-DeRemer was absent since she was traveling.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
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