There have been several earlier petitions asking the current officials to remove "in God we trust" from US currency and "under God" from the pledge of allegiance, appropriately claiming that their presense is a violation of constitutional law.
Our constitution limits the governments ability to associate with religion, and requires it to maintain a clear separation between church and state.
The current response to those petitions sidesteps the matter: suggesting this motto and clause do not violate our constitutional laws because, despite being a nation of many religious faiths and non-believers, expressing the importance of religion in our public discourse is important itself.
This itself is a religious belief, and is not an acceptable defense of the aforementioned violation.