IRS: Churches can endorse political candidates

[Morphine Prince 109,649]

The IRS said in a new federal court filing that churches can endorse political candidates to their congregations without risking the loss of their tax-exempt status.

The move upends a 70-year-old interpretation of the U.S. tax code, whose Johnson Amendment has barred certain non-profit groups, including churches, from endorsing political candidates without putting their tax-exempt status in jeopardy.

President Donald Trump has long called for Johnson Amendment to be repealed. 

"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 IRS said in the joint filing Monday with the National Religious Broadcasters group in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

"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 filing said.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/07/08/irs-church-candidates-tax-politics.html

 

[Bronco 24,814]

This will tear church communities apart. 

[Morphine Prince 109,649]

9 minutes ago, Bronco said:

This will tear church communities apart. 

I don’t think so. Most churches have been satellites of the Republican Party for decades. They basically endorse Republicans without naming them. 

Many Christians are conservative and vote Republican already. The ones who don’t know what their leaders believe. 

Many people have left their churches due to supporting Trump, so I honestly don’t see a huge shakeup coming. This will just make them more honest in what we already knew. 

[Bronco 24,814]

52 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

I don’t think so. Most churches have been satellites of the Republican Party for decades. They basically endorse Republicans without naming them. 

Many Christians are conservative and vote Republican already. The ones who don’t know what their leaders believe. 

Many people have left their churches due to supporting Trump, so I honestly don’t see a huge shakeup coming. This will just make them more honest in what we already knew. 

You're homogenising christians on the basis of a very narrow slant put forward by the US media and dominance of certain religious denominations. 

In the last few months alone we've had an American cardinal made Pope who's anti-MAGA. And in the last few weeks, numerous catholic bishops have published an open letter critising the big beautiful spending bill as essentially being unchristian. 
Catholicisim is the largest christian denomination in the US, and they split roughly 50/50 generally and the majority of Catholic representation in the senate is Democratic members. 
Then you have the historically black christian denominations which have heavily backed the Democrats since the civil rights era. 

Like, obviously the evangelicals of the Southern Baptists/Lutherans/Presybterians are all firmly MAGA converts and were tea party republicans before that and lined up behind Gingrich as far back as the 90s on the orders of the tele-preachers. 
But the Christian faith in america is way more complex than just the Evangelical church organisations. 

And when you exclude the evangelical protestant sects and exclude the historically black denominations and focus on the mainline denominations - especially in metro and commuter belt areas, the congregations are often a reflection of the US population lean where it's always a near 50/50 split with a small middle ground of independents. And it's those communities where political endorsements can become flashpoints. 
 

[Petie Estie 5,704]

they always basically endorsed people anyway. I don't see this being a big change. 

[robotvoiceinalice 2,116]

they'll always go red

[Lord Mayhem 3,415]

This is because Trump knows the Republican party is who they vote for with their Christian ideals and values driving the laws of this new regime 

Its another source of tax payers funds being filtered to them for their sick and twisted plans to proceed on their dime...

Wtf happened to the seperation of church and state? 

[Morphine Prince 109,649]

52 minutes ago, Bronco said:

You're homogenising christians on the basis of a very narrow slant put forward by the US media and dominance of certain religious denominations. 

In the last few months alone we've had an American cardinal made Pope who's anti-MAGA. And in the last few weeks, numerous catholic bishops have published an open letter critising the big beautiful spending bill as essentially being unchristian. 
Catholicisim is the largest christian denomination in the US, and they split roughly 50/50 generally and the majority of Catholic representation in the senate is Democratic members. 
Then you have the historically black christian denominations which have heavily backed the Democrats since the civil rights era. 

Like, obviously the evangelicals of the Southern Baptists/Lutherans/Presybterians are all firmly MAGA converts and were tea party republicans before that and lined up behind Gingrich as far back as the 90s on the orders of the tele-preachers. 
But the Christian faith in america is way more complex than just the Evangelical church organisations. 

And when you exclude the evangelical protestant sects and exclude the historically black denominations and focus on the mainline denominations - especially in metro and commuter belt areas, the congregations are often a reflection of the US population lean where it's always a near 50/50 split with a small middle ground of independents. And it's those communities where political endorsements can become flashpoints. 
 

This is all true but I don’t think it will tear churches apart. 

People know what their church leaders believe already. 

Many churches will probably not even endorse. 

I find it incredibly tacky when politicians go to churches to try to win votes, but it makes sense. 

[Bronco 24,814]

12 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

People know what their church leaders believe already. 

 

Having been involved in churchs, albeit in the UK, you'd be surprised.