This summer, the specifics of tax law governing political speech in churches became an issue after Donald Trump, the GOP’s presidential candidate, announced at the Republican National Convention that he would repeal the Johnson Amendment.
Named after then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson, D-Texas, the 1954 amendment bars tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Specifically, it states that the majority of nonprofit organizations are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” It also bars such organizations from any funding of political campaigns and public statements “in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.”
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