The Department of Justice has filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit requesting that a lower court decision be reversed, specifically seeking to invalidate an IRS enforcement ban on nonprofits endorsing political candidates. The filing represents another phase in a long-running legal and policy dispute regarding whether religious institutions and their leaders may participate in political endorsements.
The relevant law, commonly referred to as the Johnson Amendment, restricts all organizations holding 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from engaging in political campaign activities. DOJ lawyers contended that enforcing this restriction against religious speech would violate the “church autonomy doctrine,” a legal principle that prevents civil courts from intervening in ecclesiastical matters. The IRS previously stated that Johnson Amendment enforcement actions targeting such speech would conflict with this doctrine.
A settlement had been reached in 2025 between the IRS and plaintiffs including two Texas churches and the National Religious Broadcasters, a Christian communications organization, which would have permitted pastors and church leaders to make political endorsements. However, a federal district court judge rejected the settlement in a ruling issued earlier this year, determining that the court lacked jurisdiction to approve the agreement. The judge noted that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated harm from the existing ban and suggested that churches could simply relinquish their tax-exempt status if they wished to engage in political endorsement.
The IRS maintains that the federal court possessed authority to approve the settlement under an exception to the Declaratory Judgment Act. The National Religious Broadcasters’ general counsel stated that both the government and his organization agree the settlement should be court-approved and that IRS restrictions on pulpit speech raise constitutional concerns. Conservative Christian groups have historically advocated for repealing the Johnson Amendment, viewing it as limiting religious expression and the ability to discuss how faith intersects with voting. While churches across the political spectrum have faced investigations for potential violations, no congregation has lost tax-exempt status through enforcement during the modern era, with one exception occurring in 1995.
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