Military Chaplains Modernization Act of 2026

This bill rewrites the federal law on chaplains in the Army, Navy, and Air Force (including the Space Force). It sets out chaplains' duties, such as performing religious services, counseling, and advising commanders on religious accommodation requests, and creates or defines Deputy Chief of Chaplains positions at the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half). It states that chaplains may carry out their duties according to their own sincerely held religious beliefs and those of their endorsing religious organization, and bars any service member from requiring a chaplain to act against those beliefs or punishing a chaplain who refuses. Violations could be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the President must write rules for this offense within one year. The bill also adds a legal definition of 'chaplain' and of organizations that may endorse chaplains.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• James Lankford Republican sponsor
• 5 cosponsors