(RNS) — For years, conservative legal groups have argued that an IRS rule barring churches from endorsing candidates was unconstitutional.
Now the IRS agrees.
In a court filing, the IRS said the-so called Johnson Amendment, which bars all nonprofits from being involved in campaigns, should not apply to political speech during religious services. Speaking about politics at a church or other house of worship is not the same as intervening or participating in an election, lawyers for the IRS as well as for conservative groups suing the agency wrote.
“Bona fide communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services, do neither of those things, any more than does a family discussion concerning candidates,” they wrote. “Thus, 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 filing also notes that the IRS has rarely punished houses of worship for endorsements during religious services, though the agency has investigated churches over alleged Johnson Amendment violations. In April, Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, told RNS that his church spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” during an IRS investigation.
Pastor Robert Jeffress and President Donald Trump …