BJC among 1,000+ organizations urging President Trump to end attacks on Johnson Amendment, protect nonprofits from partisan politics
The Trump administration would have you believe that the Johnson Amendment doesn’t mean what it says.
In a court filing to settle a lawsuit, the administration says that churches should be able to endorse candidates for political office from the pulpit without risking their nonprofit status. That would undermine the Johnson Amendment, the long-standing part of the tax code that keeps 501(c)(3) organizations, including houses of worship, free from partisan campaigning.
In response, more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations – including BJC and other religious organizations – signed a letter to President Donald Trump criticizing the proposal and urging the administration to “immediately end its attempt to ignore the Johnson Amendment.”
The IRS policy outlined in the court filing (which awaits court approval) would resolve a lawsuit challenging the Johnson Amendment by allowing the plaintiffs – including two churches – to endorse candidates without risking their nonprofit status when speaking to their congregations “through … customary channels of communication on matters of faith.”
Their explanation that such communication amounts merely to a “family discussion” is a “linguistic sleight of hand,” according to BJC General Counsel Holly Hollman. She wrote an op-ed for Bloomberg Law, stating:
[E]ndorsing a candidate from the pulpit isn’t an act of familial intimacy. Customary channels of communication for many churches include radio, television, and livestream broadcasts. Among the plaintiffs to the lawsuit is in fact the National Religious Broadcasters, which would like to broadcast its endorsements of candidates.
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[I]t is a troubling development that could have serious and harmful consequences for churches and our democracy.
In addition to BJC and the Interfaith Alliance, signatories to the letter include Americans United for Separation of Church and State, National Council of Nonprofits, Independent Sector, Public Citizen, National Council of Churches, Union for Reform Judaism, and the American Humanist Association. They detail the dangers of the proposed agreement – not just for houses of worship but for all nonprofits, who face exploitation by political campaigns:
This risks opening the floodgates for any church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of worship to do the same, and it could create a slippery slope to do the same for all nonprofits. If the court approves this settlement, houses of worship would be subject to intense political pressure to engage in electoral politics from down ballot races and primaries to the presidency, distracting them from their missions. It would also create a loophole for the political donors to enjoy tax deductible donations for their political campaign contributions, exploiting houses of worship for political gains.
Weakening the Johnson Amendment would jeopardize the integrity of the entire nonprofit community.
The Johnson Amendment has protected nonprofits – including houses of worship – for more than 70 years from political pressure and additional dangers that come with endorsing and opposing candidates.
And, it’s popular. Polls consistently show that the public does not want politics infiltrating their pews. Passed by Congress, the Johnson Amendment should not be undone by judicial consent decree.
For more on this issue, see BJC’s Johnson Amendment resource page, which includes a one-page guide for churches and nonprofits on how to be advocates on issues without being partisans during any election season.
