Earlier this week, many advocates believed that the order would contain language included in an early draft leaked in February. The early draft included grant exemptions for religious believers, schools and corporations to federal laws they disagree with, including LGBT and abortion rights laws. Instead, Trump said he would target the Johnson Amendment, a law that effectively bars politicking from the pulpit. The move was praised by several evangelical pastors who have been supportive of him, but Trump’s decision frustrated many people at the gala.

“It’s irrelevant, it’s offensive, it’s ignored by churches anyway,” said Robert P. George, a Princeton University professor who is well respected in this crowd. “He got enthusiasm in return for getting nothing.”…

The Johnson Amendment is so rarely enforced that the language in the executive order about free speech is practically meaningless, said John Inazu, a professor at the University of Washington in St. Louis.

“For a stark contrast, think about the immediate consequences to real people of Trump’s immigration order,” Inazu said in an email. The provision that could affect the Little Sisters of the Poor instructs agencies to “consider issuing amended regulations,” something Trump didn’t need an executive order to do.