Comparing it to a family discussion, the Internal Revenue Service agreed on Monday that pastors and other religious leaders can endorse political candidates to their congregation without threatening their tax-exempt status under a decades-old legislation called the Johnson Amendment.
The amendment, which has been in effect since 1954, makes religious leaders and entities liable to lose their 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status if they endorse specific candidates ahead of elections or engage in other types of political activity. The measure also prohibits churches, synagogues, mosques and other nonprofit institutions from raising money for political candidates.
Supporters view the Johnson Amendment as a means to separate church and state in modern American life, while critics have long argued that it infringes on First Amendment rights for religious leaders to speak out about what is happening in the political realm.
In a joint motion for entry of consent judgment submitted in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division, the National Religious Broadcasters, Intercessors for America, two Texas churches, along with defendants IRS Commissioner Billy Long, jointly asked the court to exempt houses of worship from the Johnson Amendment.
The agreement is a bid by the parties to settle a lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs on Aug. 28, 2024, which argues that "the Johnson Amendment facially and as applied violates their First Amendment rights to the freedom of speech and free exercise of religion, their Fifth Amendment rights to due process of law and equal protection under the law, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."
"When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither 'participate[s]' nor 'intervene[s]' in a 'political campaign,' within the ordinary meaning of those words," the motion states.
"To 'participate' in a political campaign is 'to take part' in the political campaign, and to 'intervene' in a political campaign is 'to interfere with the outcome or course' of the political campaign," it continues.
"Bona fide communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services, do neither of those things, any more than does a family discussion concerning candidates. Thus, communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted."
The proposed judgment and final order agreed that the plaintiffs' interpretation of the Johnson Amendment is consistent with the way the IRS has applied the law in practice.
"The IRS generally has not enforced the Johnson Amendment against houses of worship for speech concerning electoral politics in the context of worship services," it states.
If this proposal is accepted by the court, it would fulfill one of President Donald Trump's campaign promises to his Evangelical base.
On his way to being elected in his first term in 2016, President Trump pledged to repeal the Johnson Amendment.
"At this moment, I would like to thank the Evangelical and religious community and I'm not sure I totally deserve it. ... They have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits," Trump told the audience gathered on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in July 2016.
"An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views," he added. "I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and protect free speech for all Americans."
Considering repealing the Johnson Amendment would take an act of Congress, Trump directed the IRS early in his first term not to enforce the Johnson Amendment on houses of worship and religious organizations.
Kelly Shackelford, president and chief counsel for First Liberty, a conservative legal organization dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans, praised Monday's proposed settlement.
"First Amendment rights don't end when a pastor, church member or even a political candidate steps on the platform of a church," Shackelford said in a statement to The Christian Post. "The IRS weaponized the Johnson Amendment to silence churches and pastors for decades. This is great news for religious organizations, churches, and religious liberty."
Doug Pagitt, a Minnesota pastor and executive director of the progressive Evangelical grassroots organization Vote Common Good, also praised the IRS' recent decision.
"The I.R.S.'s decision to allow churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit levels a playing field that has been lopsided for decades. For too long, Republican politicians and their allies have spoken freely from pulpits, while too many Democrats and faith leaders held back, worried they would cross an invisible line. This decision removes that roadblock," he wrote in a statement to CP.
"We view this as a significant opportunity for Democrats to engage faith voters en masse. With 80% of Christian voters open to voting for a Democrat, this change opens the door for more honest, values-based conversations in faith communities across the country."
Others were not as supportive of the news.
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, called the agreement "an assault on the bedrock principle that charitable organizations must remain nonpartisan in law."
"This action — long sought by President Trump — is not about religion or free speech, but about radically altering campaign finance laws. The decree could open the floodgates for political operatives to funnel money to their preferred candidates while receiving generous tax breaks at the expense of taxpayers who may not share those views," Yentel wrote in a statement.
"Charitable nonprofit organizations serve as safe havens from the caustic partisanship that continues to divide the nation. These institutions are among the last trusted spaces where individuals can come together across political lines to address community needs. Repealing or weakening the Johnson Amendment risks politicizing these spaces, undermining their integrity, effectiveness, and the public's confidence in them."
In recent years, progressive secular organizations have called for IRS investigations into Christian organizations they perceived to have violated the Johnson Amendment.
In April, the IRS closed an investigation into a Florida church accused of violating its tax-exempt status by praying for a local school board candidate during worship service. The investigation was initiated in July 2024 during the final year of the Biden administration. In response, the law firm Jones Day, representing the church, sent a letter in August arguing that the church was within its First Amendment rights to allow the school board candidate to speak at the service.
In February 2024, the Freedom From Religion Foundation urged the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Southern California-based Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, led by Pastor Jack Hibbs, who encouraged his congregation to vote for Republican Steve Garvey in California's U.S. Senate race.
"I just remembered it's against the law for me to say that in the pulpit," Hibbs said at the time as he stepped away from the pulipt to finish his statement. "As a public citizen, Steve Garvey is not only one of the greatest baseball players of all time. But we want Steve Garvey to represent us in the Senate. So, Steve Garvey is your only guy on the ballot."
Some progressive pastors have also been vocal from the pulpit.
In 2022, Pastor Jamal Bryant of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta area criticized Republican Herschel Walker and encouraged his congregation to vote for Democrat Raphael Warnock for the U.S. Senate seat in Georgia.
Last November, an Alabama church drew headlines for a posting on its church sign calling minority Trump supporters "ignorant," which drew criticism from Alabama's Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth.
