Hallelujah?The Johnson Amendment is gone. Why aren’t evangelicals happier?
When, back in 2015, Donald Trump promised to kill the Johnson Amendment, the pledge was described as one of the top reasons evangelicals would support a philandering, biblically illiterate businessman. The amendment, an Internal Revenue Service rule from 1954 that banned tax-exempt nonprofits, including churches, from directly endorsing political candidates, has been a matter of grave concern to major evangelical leaders for years. During Trump’s first campaign, Mike Pence promised that Trump would “free up the voices of faith” by repealing the amendment. Now, a decade later, the Trump administration has finally made good on that promise—not by killing the Johnson Amendment altogether, but by reinterpreting it to exclude churches. On Monday, the New York Times reported that in a filing for a lawsuit brought by conservative evangelical groups, the IRS said that it will now allow pastors to promote candidates to their congregations without risking their institution’s tax-exempt status. According to the IRS, churches can now be as partisan as they want. (Slate 7/11/25) READMORE>>>>
When, back in 2015, Donald Trump promised to kill the Johnson Amendment, the pledge was described as one of the top reasons evangelicals would support a philandering, biblically illiterate businessman. The amendment, an Internal Revenue Service rule from 1954 that banned tax-exempt nonprofits, including churches, from directly endorsing political candidates, has been a matter of grave concern to major evangelical leaders for years. During Trump’s first campaign, Mike Pence promised that Trump would “free up the voices of faith” by repealing the amendment. Now, a decade later, the Trump administration has finally made good on that promise—not by killing the Johnson Amendment altogether, but by reinterpreting it to exclude churches. On Monday, the New York Times reported that in a filing for a lawsuit brought by conservative evangelical groups, the IRS said that it will now allow pastors to promote candidates to their congregations without risking their institution’s tax-exempt status. According to the IRS, churches can now be as partisan as they want. (Slate 7/11/25) READMORE>>>>