The Internal Revenue Service will maintain a policy barring pastors and churches from endorsing political candidates following a surprise ruling in a high-stakes court battle.
In a March 31 opinion, Judge J. Campbell Barker in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissed a lawsuit filed by the National Religious Broadcasters and others that challenged an IRS rule known as the Johnson Amendment.
The Johnson Amendment was introduced by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954 when he was serving as U.S. Senate majority leader. It bans all tax-exempt organizations like churches and charities from “directly or indirectly” participating in politics, specifically in endorsement or opposition of candidates.
Selective enforcement is back on the menu, boys.
The judges ruling is specifically about not allowing selective enforcement:
However, Barker’s decision effectively nulls the exception. The ruling is largely because, according to Barker, federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to change the tax status of a plaintiff or create exemptions from tax laws. His court cannot provide declaratory relief “with respect to federal taxes,” the judge said in his opinion.