From ABC News: President Donald Trump is praising an Internal Revenue Service’s court filing, which effectively clears the way for churches to endorse political candidates — a reversal of decades of legal precedent.
Yet half a dozen religious leaders told ABC News they didn’t foresee a large increase in political endorsements from their peers, despite last week’s IRS court filing. The filing said it would not revoke nonprofit status from two Texas churches, Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waskom, for doing so.
The filing formalizes for the first time a lack of enforcement of the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofits from endorsing or opposing political candidates if they want to remain tax exempt. Both political parties have tested the line in trying to harness the power of the pulpit, with many Republicans wooing evangelical leaders while Democrats often try to curry favor with Black churches.
Tax experts predict the filing could transform how money flows around elections, making houses of worship a way to avoid both taxes and transparency for campaign finances.
“God is once again welcomed back into our public square,” Trump said during a White House Faith Office summit on Monday.
Trump commented on the Johnson Amendment, saying he was surprised when he couldn’t get help in the churches in 2015.
“I said, ‘you have more power than anybody, but you’re not allowed to use your power.’ I said, ‘we’re going to get rid of that because people want to hear what you have to say more than anybody else,'” Trump said Monday. “You were even afraid to talk about it. But they’re not afraid any longer, and I think they appreciate it.”
WATCH: President Trump Participates in the White House Faith Office Luncheon – 7/14/25 pic.twitter.com/98UZd73VcM
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