Goodbye, separation of church and state [View all]

The Trump administration last week handed a huge win to conservative Christians who’ve been agitating for churches to be able to endorse political candidates without endangering their tax-exempt status.

If you’ve ever heard your right-wing uncle muttering darkly about the Johnson Amendment, he’s probably a big fan of this move. Named after Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced it in the Senate, the 1954 law is part of 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the United States tax code. To be tax-exempt under that section, churches and nonprofits cannot “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/johnson-amendment-trump-churches-free-speech