Overview

• A mid-July IRS court filing formalizes nonenforcement for Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waskom, letting them make political endorsements without risking tax-exempt status.
• The decision suspends the 1954 Johnson Amendment for houses of worship, overturning decades of IRS precedent against church candidate endorsements.
• President Trump and pastors such as Robert Jeffress and Jamal Bryant praised the shift as a restoration of free speech rights in the pulpit.
• Tax law experts including Ellen Aprill caution that churches’ automatic exemption and lack of 990-reporting requirements could enable opaque flows of campaign money.
• Several religious leaders surveyed by ABC News say they do not expect a surge in endorsements, and the change still requires judicial approval and potential congressional repeal.