Maddow Blog-Trump's IRS says churches can now endorse political candidates from the pulpit

[LetMyPeopleVote]

By allowing houses of worship to endorse candidates, despite federal tax law, the IRS is “fixing” a problem that doesn’t exist, while inviting new ones.

By allowing houses of worship to endorse candidates, the IRS isn’t just “fixing” a problem that doesn’t exist.

It’s also inviting new problems that don’t currently exist. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-08T17:07:48.796Z

For nearly seven decades, federal tax law has been clear: Houses of worship are entitled to tax-exempt status, but they’re not allowed to intervene in partisan political campaigns. As The New York Times reported, under Donald Trump, the IRS has unilaterally decided to interpret federal tax law in a new and unique way.

The I.R.S. said on Monday that churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates to their congregations, carving out an exemption in a decades-old ban on political activity by tax-exempt nonprofits. The agency made that statement in a court filing intended to settle a lawsuit filed by two Texas churches and an association of Christian broadcasters.

Under the Internal Revenue Service’s new approach, all nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations will continue to enjoy tax-exempt status, but houses of worship will enjoy a new benefit that the agency won’t apply to secular organizations: Churches, temples, synagogues and mosques will be free to endorse candidates, but other nonprofit groups will not.

If you’re thinking this incongruity seems like the sort of thing that will end up in court, you’re not alone......

As for why the IRS’s new approach matters, there’s potential for dramatic consequences if houses of worship become tools of political campaigns. Imagine the campaign finance mess that would exist if parties, candidates and political action committees could funnel donations through tax exempt churches, free of oversight, all while benefiting from explicit endorsements.

For that matter, imagine if a foreign government, eager to secretly help put a specific candidate in power, decides to funnel money to specific churches, knowing that those ministries would in turn use the resources to support that candidate. The churches would never have to disclose any of this, and the public would be kept in the dark.

The IRS’s new position “fixes” a problem that doesn’t exist. There doesn’t appear to be any great public demand for such a change — most Americans, and even many religious leaders, don’t want churches to endorse candidates — and there’s no reason to create a mess where none currently exists.

And yet, Trump’s IRS is apparently doing it anyway.