Hobby Lobby’s politics run through three channels: a 2014 Supreme Court victory that let closely held for-profit companies refuse to cover certain contraceptives on religious grounds, a charitable-giving pipeline that moves tens of millions of dollars from the Green family into conservative Christian legal groups and election-related organizations, and the personal endorsements and public statements of founder David Green. The company itself keeps a small direct federal footprint — no PAC, modest lobbying — while the family’s foundations do the heavier political work.
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and the Contraceptive Mandate
The company became a political landmark on June 30, 2014, when the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive-coverage requirement violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as applied to closely held for-profit corporations with religious objections.1Justia. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion. Its central move was to treat such corporations as “persons” capable of exercising religion under RFRA.2Cornell Law Institute. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
The Greens did not object to contraception generally. Their employee health plan already covered most methods. They objected to four specifically: Plan B, Ella, and two intrauterine devices, which they believed could prevent a fertilized egg from implanting. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other medical bodies classify those methods as contraceptives, not abortifacients.3NPR. Hobby Lobby Ruling Cuts Into Contraceptive Mandate
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by three colleagues, dissented. She argued that for-profit companies employing workers of many faiths are not comparable to religious nonprofits, and that the decision pushed the cost of an employer’s religious objection onto its employees.1Justia. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 The majority insisted its holding was limited to the contraceptive mandate and should not be read to authorize refusals to cover vaccinations or transfusions, though critics noted the reasoning did not obviously stop there.4Baker Institute. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and the Affordable Care Act State-level contraceptive equity laws were unaffected.5National Health Law Program. Summary of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Hobby Lobby
Where the Political Money Actually Goes
Directly, Hobby Lobby spends very little on politics. It has never run a PAC. Its reported federal lobbying peaked at $150,000 in 2014, and most of that historically targeted tariffs on artificial flowers; a $20,000 spend in 2013 focused on ACA implementation.6OpenSecrets. Hobby Lobby’s Lobbying Hobbies7OpenSecrets. Hobby Lobby Stores Lobbying Profile Federal campaign contributions attributed to the company come from individual employees and family members and totaled roughly $46,000 in the 2024 cycle, with about 72% going to Republicans.8OpenSecrets. Hobby Lobby Stores Summary
The large sums move through charities. The National Christian Charitable Foundation, a donor-advised fund, is the family’s main vehicle. A 2009 NCF tax filing showed Hobby Lobby CFO Jon Cargill and company affiliate Crafts Etc. as the foundation’s single largest source of contributions that year at nearly $65 million.9Type Investigations. Hobby Lobby’s Secret Agenda David Green has publicly recommended the NCF as his family’s charitable-giving solution.
Alliance Defending Freedom
Between 2002 and 2011, the NCF sent more than $31 million to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group that litigates on religious liberty, abortion, and LGBTQ issues. In 2011 alone, the NCF provided roughly $9.6 million to ADF, a large share of ADF’s $36.4 million in grant revenue that year.9Type Investigations. Hobby Lobby’s Secret Agenda ADF publicly supported the Burwell litigation with a “Nine Weeks of Prayer” campaign before oral arguments.
The Servant Foundation, Election Integrity Groups, and Marriage
David Green also partially funds the Servant Foundation, also known as the Signatry, based in Kansas. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis reported in 2024, the Servant Foundation’s donations to the Conservative Partnership Institute climbed from $11,000 in the year ending March 2020 to $1 million in the year ending March 2022, then to $5.4 million the following year. The foundation also gave $700,000 to three other groups focused on election integrity and voter fraud.10The Oklahoman. Is Hobby Lobby’s David Green Donating to Election Integrity
CPI was founded in 2017 by former Republican Senator Jim DeMint. Its Election Integrity Network, per the Journal, organizes volunteers to scrutinize voter registrations, slow vote counts, file lawsuits with election officials, and elect sympathetic state and local politicians.10The Oklahoman. Is Hobby Lobby’s David Green Donating to Election Integrity CPI senior fellow Cleta Mitchell, a former Trump campaign lawyer, heads the network and is paid $300,000 a year by CPI.11Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Anonymous Donations Provide Big Payday for Trump-Allied Election Deniers Group Hobby Lobby said the Servant Foundation’s leadership decides its distributions independently and that neither David Green nor the company directed the CPI donations.
In 2026, Seattle Times reporting linked the Servant Foundation to Them Before Us, an anti-marriage-equality organization that received a $300,000 donation from the foundation according to 2024 IRS filings. Them Before Us belongs to a 47-organization campaign called “Greater Than” that seeks to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.12LGBTQ Nation. Hobby Lobby Is Funding the Latest Push to End Marriage Equality
The Institute in Basic Life Principles
The Greens also gave millions of dollars’ worth of real estate to the Institute in Basic Life Principles, the conservative Christian ministry founded by Bill Gothard. In 2001, a Green family trust sold a 2,250-acre campus in Big Sandy, Texas, to Gothard’s group for $10. In 2000, Hobby Lobby donated a 529,717-square-foot former Veterans Affairs building in Little Rock, Arkansas, that the company had purchased for $299,000. In 2005, a Hobby Lobby affiliate sold a former hospital building in Nashville to IBLP for $10 after buying it for $3.5 million. The family also purchased a training center in New Zealand and gave it to the ministry.13Mother Jones. Hobby Lobby, Bill Gothard, and the Institute in Basic Life Principles
Other Religious Beneficiaries
Mart Green invested approximately $70 million in 2008 to rescue Oral Roberts University from debt.14The Northwestern. Hobby Lobby Ruling Puts Green Family in Crosshairs The family has also supported Liberty University, the ministries YouVersion and EveryHome for Christ, and various churches and religious colleges to which they have donated buildings and campuses.15Reckon. What You Need to Know About Hobby Lobby
David Green’s Endorsements and Ownership Structure
Green has been publicly active in presidential politics on occasion. In February 2016, he endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination and criticized Donald Trump as “unqualified to be president,” saying Trump’s “lack of humility and kind temperament” alarmed him and that Trump “scares me to death.”16Politico. Hobby Lobby Founder Backs Rubio for President He later reversed course. According to Reckon, he ultimately endorsed Trump for all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns, including an endorsement in January 2023 for the 2024 race.15Reckon. What You Need to Know About Hobby Lobby
Green transferred ownership of Hobby Lobby to a trust and describes himself as a “steward” of the company rather than an owner. Under the trust’s terms, family members who want income from the company must work there; if any future generation sells, 90% of the proceeds go to a ministry foundation; and trustees must affirm personal faith in Jesus Christ.17Faith Driven Investor. Restoring Trust Through Trusts: Hobby Lobby CEO Is a Steward, Not an Owner That structure locks the company’s political and religious identity into its governance.
COVID-19 Store Closures
In March 2020, Hobby Lobby drew nationwide criticism for keeping its roughly 900 stores open during state-mandated pandemic lockdowns, claiming “essential retailer” status on the ground that customers needed materials for face masks, home-schooling, and small crafts businesses.18ABC News. Hobby Lobby Closes Stores After Defying Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Orders Officials disagreed. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office sent a cease and desist letter, Dallas posted closure notices, and police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Jefferson, Indiana, forced individual stores to shut.19CBS News. Hobby Lobby Open as Essential Business Despite Stay-at-Home Orders
Reporting indicated that CEO David Green told employees he was keeping stores open based on a “message from God” received by his wife, Barbara Green. Leaked internal memos showed the company refused to pay coronavirus-related sick leave and instructed managers to keep employees working.20Business Insider. The Biggest Controversies in Hobby Lobby History Hobby Lobby closed its stores in April 2020 under sustained pressure and furloughed much of its workforce, maintaining medical and dental benefits for furloughed employees through at least May 1, 2020.18ABC News. Hobby Lobby Closes Stores After Defying Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Orders
The Public School Bible Curriculum
Steve Green, Hobby Lobby’s president, led a Museum of the Bible effort to develop a Bible curriculum for public high schools. Mustang Public Schools in Oklahoma approved a pilot elective in April 2014. The Freedom from Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the ACLU opposed the course as devotional rather than academic, treating the Bible as inerrant, and at least four organizations threatened litigation.21The Christian Century. Hobby Lobby President’s Bible Curriculum Shelved by Oklahoma School District In November 2014, the district shelved the curriculum, citing two unmet conditions: the creators had not delivered a finalized version for review and had not agreed to cover the district’s legal costs if sued.22KOSU. Mustang Schools Abandon Bible Curriculum Tied to Hobby Lobby President
Employment Discrimination Rulings
Meggan Sommerville, a transgender woman who had worked at an Illinois Hobby Lobby since 1998, filed discrimination complaints in 2013 after her store manager barred her from the women’s restroom, demanded proof of a legal sex change or surgery, monitored her bathroom use, and issued disciplinary warnings. The Illinois Human Rights Commission found Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights Act and awarded her $220,000 in emotional distress damages plus $97,000 in attorneys’ fees.23Illinois Human Rights Commission. Meggan Sommerville v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. On August 13, 2021, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed in full, held the bathroom policy unlawfully discriminated on the basis of gender identity, upheld the $220,000 award, and lifted the stay on injunctive relief ordering the company to allow her access to the women’s restroom.24Illinois Appellate Court. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sommerville, 2021 IL App (2d) 190362
In July 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Hobby Lobby under the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the EEOC, a cashier at the company’s Olathe, Kansas, store asked to bring a trained service dog to work to assist with PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Hobby Lobby refused, citing safety concerns, and fired her when she could not work without the dog. The EEOC noted that the same store permitted service dogs for customers.25U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC Sues Hobby Lobby for Disability Discrimination
A Note on the Antiquities Cases
Hobby Lobby and the Museum of the Bible have also been through federal forfeiture actions over smuggled Iraqi artifacts, a Gilgamesh cuneiform tablet, and forged Dead Sea Scroll fragments, with a $3 million penalty and thousands of items returned to Iraq and Egypt.26U.S. Department of Justice. United States Returns Thousands of Ancient Artifacts to Iraq27U.S. Department of Justice. Rare Cuneiform Tablet Bearing Portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh Forfeited to the United States Those matters are cultural-property and customs cases rather than political activity, though they sit alongside the company’s political profile in most accounts of its controversies.