Christian Coalition of America

CCA espouses right-of center positions on many public policy issues, such as family values and foreign policy, but also advocates for strong government support of weather-dependent energy sources to offset the country’s dependence on both foreign and domestic oil sources. The group advocates against policies it perceives as discriminatory towards Christians in the U.S. military, against public funding of abortion, for ending embryonic stem-cell research, for ending federal funding of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and for repealing and replacing Obamacare. ¹

Founding and History

The Christian Coalition of America is a right-of-center “social welfare” advocacy nonprofit formed in 1988 as the Christian Coalition by Christian broadcaster and former Republican presidential candidate Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson. The group is ecumenical and includes supporters representing many Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism. The CCA advocates for Christian-inspired pro-family public policies, conducts pro-Christian messaging in the media, trains activist leaders, and advocates for the rights of Christian Americans.  ²

Activism

CCA’s educational advocacy focuses on political training to Christian groups to affect pro-family policies on all levels of government. The group’s voter education efforts consist of distributing millions of “voter guides” in each state to inform voters about which candidates support the group’s issues. ³ CCA also lobbies the US Congress and the White House to promote its preferred policies.

Policy Issues

On energy policy, the Christian Coalition of America desires an energy mix that contains all possible energy generation methods, including solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, fuel energy, and hydro-electric power generation, that are “Made in America” to the greatest possible extent. The group links considerable improvements to the U.S.’s economic growth, national security, health, and the environment to changing America’s energy policy to domestic production. The CCA claims this policy shift will give the US energy independence, create jobs, and reduce energy prices.  ⁴

 Christians in the Military

The CCA advocates for the appointment of evangelical Christian military chaplains and for service members to exercise their religious beliefs. ⁵ The group blames atheist activists, left-wing Members of Congress, and senior military policymakers that have allegedly “instituted regulations which forbade military chaplains from praying in the name of Jesus during military functions other than worship services.” ⁵  The group also claims that congressional authorization for gay and lesbian service personnel to serve openly “open[s] for the government to discriminate against Christians at all levels of our nation’s military in myriad ways.” ⁵

Fairness Doctrine

CCA opposes any re-implementation of the “Fairness Doctrine,” claiming that the doctrine can force “radio and TV stations to broadcast an equal amount of time for liberal programs to match that of each conservative program.” ⁵ The fairness doctrine was implemented in 1949 and removed in part by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1987. The doctrine gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the ability to mandate and determine the amount and type of opposing views FCC license holders must have on their programs. ⁶  The group claims that the re-implementation of the “Fairness Doctrine” would negatively affect conservative and Christian media programs. ⁷

Second Amendment

CCA opposes laws that restrict American’s Second Amendment rights and that infringe on law-abiding citizens’ rights to defend themselves. The group claims that new gun control laws cannot prevent many mass shootings and recommends laws that provide people with mental illnesses preventive care in place of new gun laws. The group cites the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, both of which were conducted by mentally disturbed individuals, to highlight that the proposed gun laws would not have prevented the tragedies. ⁵

Obamacare

The CCA desires to repeal and replace Obamacare for two reasons, the group’s view that the law dramatically disrupts the U.S. health care market and the law’s mandatory coverage of abortion services. Obamacare’s pro-abortion mandate requires taxpayers, Christians, and Christian businesses to pay for healthcare plans that cover abortion services and contraceptives ⁸

Government Spending and Debt

The CCA advocates for fiscally responsible policies to reduce the national debt because the cost and obligation to repay the debt will fall on future generations of Americans. The group wants changes to entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Obamacare that have incurred a high level of liabilities and unfunded obligations to the U.S. government. The CCA supports the passage of a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution and opposes laws that would increase the number, revenue, or creation of new taxes by the U.S. Congress. ⁹

In 2025, the CCA featured remarks by U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) in support of rescissions, or spending cuts, recommended by President Donald Trump. Kennedy said, “You either believe in reducing spending, or you don’t. You either support spending porn or you don’t. We’re going to find out who does and who doesn’t here in about three or four hours.” Kennedy also detailed numerous examples of what he claimed was wasteful spending, especially in foreign aid. ¹⁰

Public Funding of Abortion

The CCA supports the passage of legislation that will end all taxpayer-funded abortion. The group wants an end to all federal health care benefits, grants to abortion providers, and the use of federal government facilities for abortions. Additionally, the group wants an end to all federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research and opposes laws that expand embryonic stem cell research. The group accepts any funding for research using any adult stem cell research. ¹¹

Criminal Justice

The CCA supports criminal justice leniency efforts advocated by both the left and right. The group claims, “For years, we have heard the mantra that we must be ‘Tough on crime.’ Unfortunately, that hasn’t always coincided with being effective on crime.” The group supports “investing in education and creating opportunities, we can keep our youth from turning to crime in the first place.” The group also supports expanding community youth programs in schools. The group also supports prison reform with a focus on rehabilitating prisoners. The group also supports “programs like Clean Slate, which help convicted felons find meaningful employment. We need to consider programs like Ban the Box, to give individuals a chance to get across the desk from a prospective employer, and explain their situation.” ¹²

Immigration

The CCA featured a commentary from Earl and Kathleen Cox on their website on immigration, which compared America to Israel. They wrote, “So, what does it mean to be American?  What defines America’s national soul? It may be possible to form an answer by asking another question, ‘What does it mean to be Israeli?’” The two recounted Jewish history and how the Jewish people were able to maintain their religious faith in common after the Romans captured Judea in 70 AD and the Jewish people were forced to spread out all over the world. The Coxes also pointed out that Jews were moving from around the world into Israel, but Israel was able to stay together as a nation because the people moving there shared Jewish faith and they were able to learn Hebrew, the ancient language of Israel.  ¹³

They contrasted Israel’s approach to immigration and national identity to the United States, writing, “America’s growing population is viewed in terms of multiculturalism void of any common core identity. People from a great number of ethnic and religious backgrounds have set up shop in the United States.  The common thread which once held us together as a nation and formed the foundation upon which ‘united we stand,’ are being stretched to the brink and are unraveling.  We’ve diluted or deleted our core values in favor of ‘y’all come’ (a southern phrase meaning ‘everyone welcome’).” The Coxes also appeared to oppose Muslim immigrants, claiming that “their first allegiance is to Allah.” ¹³

Other Policy Stances

The CCA supports a strong military alliance between the U.S. and Israel to defend its territory, borders, national interest, and economy. The group does not support any land transfers from Israel to the Palestinians and advocates that the U.S. recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which it has done since the first Trump administration.  ¹⁴

In 2025, the CCA featured a letter written by U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to Education Secretary Linda McMahon complaining about the pro-Hamas sympathies of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the plans of the CAIR Philadelphia chapter to “partner with schools across Pennsylvania and Delaware to make them ‘more inclusive.’” Sen. Cotton also wrote in his letter: “CAIR Philadelphia’s Executive Director, Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, stated that Israeli ‘occupation’ was the reason for the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel.” Sen. Cotton also claimed that CAIR offered “pro-terrorist” and “anti-Israel” rhetoric in educational programs offered on the group’s website. ¹⁵

CCA advocates for traditional marriage and wishes to overturn the June 2015 US Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that requires state recognition of same-sex marriages in all 50 states. CCA opposes liberal judicial nominees and supports originalist nominees to the US Supreme Court. ⁵

The CCA has proposed increasing U.S.’s military spending significantly to make up for the Obama administration’s policies and congressional sequestration that significantly reduced military expenditures from 2011 to 2014. The group invokes former President Ronald Reagan’s policy of significantly increasing military spending by advocating “Reestablishing a Peace Through Strength Military Policy.”  ⁵

Leadership

Roberta Combs was a founding member of Christian Coalition of America in 1988 and became the President and CEO in 2001. ¹⁶  Combs has advised U.S. Representatives, U.S. Senators, Governors, and the George W. Bush administration on pro-family and Christian issues. Combs has sat on numerous policy boards, commissions, and different appointed and elected positions in the Republican Party, including as a national delegate to the Republican National Convention and member of the National Republican Party Platform Committee. She has conducted multiple media appearances and Congressional testimony to advance the CCA’s pro-family and Christian policy objectives. ¹⁷