1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take action against the IRS's proposed settlement that would allow houses of worship to endorse political candidates while maintaining their tax-exempt status. This settlement, filed in response to a lawsuit by the National Religious Broadcasters and Texas churches including Sand Springs Church in Athens and First Baptist Church in Waskom, fundamentally undermines the Johnson Amendment that has governed nonprofit political activity since 1954. Tax-exempt organizations receive a substantial public subsidy by not paying federal income taxes. In exchange for this benefit, they agree to certain restrictions, including staying out of partisan political campaigns. Churches that want to engage in political endorsements should operate under the same rules as everyone else and pay taxes accordingly. The proposed settlement creates an unjust system where religious organizations receive taxpayer subsidies while actively campaigning for political candidates. The IRS's new interpretation that political speech from the pulpit constitutes a "family discussion" rather than campaign intervention is a dangerous fiction. When religious leaders use their institutional platforms and authority to endorse candidates during services, they are leveraging the tax-advantaged resources and influence of their organizations for partisan purposes. This is precisely what the Johnson Amendment was designed to prevent. This change also contradicts the clear preferences of religious Americans themselves. According to 2023 polling by the Public Religion Research Institute, majorities across all major religious groups oppose allowing places of worship to endorse candidates while keeping tax-exempt status, including 62% of white evangelicals, 77% of white mainline Protestants, and 79% of white Catholics. A 2019 Pew Research survey found that 76% of Americans and 70% of Christians say clergy should not endorse candidates from the pulpit. I urge you to publicly oppose this settlement and work to preserve the Johnson Amendment's prohibition on political campaign activity by tax-exempt organizations. If churches wish to engage in partisan politics, they should forgo their tax exemption.