WASHINGTON (AP) —President Trump praised the IRS decision allowing church pastors to endorse political candidates.
The president said he thinks “it’s great” and “terrific” that the IRS has ruled pastors can endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status.
“We have a lot of respect for the people that lead the church,” the president said.
On Tuesday, the IRS said pastors who endorse political candidates from the pulpit should not have to risk losing their tax-exempt status.
The move effectively calls for a carve out for religious organizations from the rarely used IRS rule called the Johnson Amendment, put in place in 1954 and named after then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson.
In a joint court filing intended to end an ongoing case against the IRS, the tax collection agency and the National Religious Broadcasters Association — a Evangelical media consortium — and other plaintiffs have asked a federal court in Texas to stop the government from enforcing the Johnson Amendment against the plaintiffs.
The Johnson Amendment is a 1954 amendment to the U.S. tax code that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates.
The Christian media group and others filed suit against the IRS last August, stating that the amendment violates their First Amendment rights to the freedom of speech and free exercise of religion, among other legal protections. On Monday, the IRS and plaintiffs wrote that the Johnson Amendment should be interpreted “so that it does not reach communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith.”