The Johnson Amendment

The Johnson Amendment threatens religious organizations and charities with loss of their tax-exempt status if they endorse or oppose political candidates. The restriction was promoted by Texas Senator Lyndon Johnson in 1954 after a conservative nonprofit group (no church was involved in its inception) with its own political agenda produced material in favor of Johnson's primary opponent with the intent of defeating Johnson.  Many believe this was Johnson's motivation for proposing the amendment.

The Johnson Amendment which applies to any  charitable organization seeking tax-exempt status was added to the federal tax code where such organizations were designated by the code 501(c)(3).  This designation included groups organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes such as religious, scientific, and educational. It simply stated that absolution from tax liability is forfeited for being involved in partisan politics.  It was not considered controversial at the time (it was agreed to without any record of discussion or debate) and was continued without controversy in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 enacted during the Ronald Reagan administration.


The Johnson Amendment prevents campaign contributions from being funneled through 501(c)(3) organizations which would mean this amendment prevents political contributions from being tax-deductible for donors.  Since churches are exempt from the reporting requirements required of other 501(c)(3) organizations, they present a special opportunity for creating a mechanism where political contributions could be made in violation of relevant campaign financing laws.  Majorities of both the general public and of clergy oppose repeal of this amendment, and The National Council of Nonprofits and the Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits, foundations, and corporations have stated their opposition to the repeal the Johnson Amendment.

This amendment is controversial now because clever political strategist have come to recognize the tremendous campaign potential that exists in properly motivated religions.   Without the Johnson Amendment, there is a risk that someone might create arguably fake churches to be used as a mechanism to obtain anonymous, tax-deductible contributions to spend on political activity.  In effect, a church could conceivably become its own super PAC.  Nobody wanted to repeal this amendment until the last few decades when it became apparent there was a huge political advantage that could be gained from doing it.

Extracted from Trump's Religious Executive Order.