Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback
Credit: Bill Clark

Sam Brownback is now the United States Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom. Because of Brownback’s extreme views on religion and civil rights, his confirmation took six months, resulted in a 49-49 tie broken by Vice President Mike Pence, and has alarmed women’s and LGBT activists.

But what can Brownback really do in his new post? Actually, more than you might think. Dr. Shaun Casey, who served as director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs (RGA), told the Daily Beast that Brownback weaponizing the State Department against Muslims, women, LGBT people, and human rights activists is “a real possibility here and a terrifying prospect.”

Here are three ways that could happen.

First, he can redefine what the U.S. government means by the term “religious freedom.” The primary responsibility of the office of International Religious Freedom (IRF) is the production of an annual report detailing the status of religious freedom in every country in […]