The state department is ordering staff to report colleagues for instances of “anti-Christian bias” during the Biden administration, part of Donald Trump’s aggressive push to reshape government policy on religious expression in his first months back in office.

The internal cable, obtained by the Guardian, establishes a short seven-day window for employees to report perceived religious discrimination committed by state department officials, with particular emphasis on Christianity.

“The department is seeking submissions regarding any practices involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration,” the Friday cable reads, instructing staff to report to a specially created taskforce by 18 April.

The cable, first reported by Politico, points back to Trump’s February executive order aimed at ending “the anti-Christian weaponization of government,” and indicates that the department will offer preferential treatment for Christians.

One example of the “bias” the department wants reported includes “mistreatment for opposing displays of flags, banners or other paraphernalia” – a thinly veiled reference to Pride flags displayed at US embassies under the previous administration. The cable also specifically points to “policies related to preferred personal pronouns” as potentially discriminatory against religious employees.

While the document acknowledges that discrimination based on any religion violates federal law, the repeated emphasis on “anti-Christian bias” highlights a key theme Trump was happy to hit while on the campaign trail. At rallies, Trump vowed to be a champion to conservative Christian causes. Ahead of his executive order signing on 6 February, he indicated that the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service would be looked at for bias as well, through a taskforce led by the attorney general, Pam Bondi.

But under the first amendment, the founders wrote that Congress shall “make no law respecting an establishment of religion”, a clearcut admonition to steer clear of imposing specific religious beliefs in government affairs.

The state department cable encourages anonymous reporting, and the department asks staff to provide “names, dates, locations” of alleged incidents. Examples will be compiled for a preliminary report due by 22 April – just 11 days after the cable’s distribution – and incorporated into a government-wide assessment due in June.

The cable instructs employees to report if they faced consequences for “refusing to participate in events or activities that promote themes inconsistent with or hostile to one’s religious beliefs”, which could potentially encompass diversity initiatives and LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts that were part of state department policy under the previous administration.

According to Politico, some state department employees reacted with shock to the call to report their colleagues, saying it created a culture of fear. “It’s very Handmaid’s Tale-esque,” one department official told Politico.

The state department did not respond to a request for comment.