GOP congressmen join court filing against Johnson Amendment

Reps. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., and Mark Harris, R-N.C., joined a federal amicus brief filed on Tuesday arguing that the Johnson Amendment tax provision violated the First Amendment. The 1954 statute barred 501(c)(3) nonprofits, including churches, from engaging in political campaign activity.

Discussions of repealing the tax provision continue to grow under the Trump administration, with the Justice Department's Religious Liberty Commission hearing witness testimony about the amendment’s effects last December. The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal advocacy group, filed the Tuesday brief which Crank and Harris joined, before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in National Religious Broadcasters et al. v. Scott Bessent.

What kind of arguments did the filing make? The joint brief petitioned for the government to stop enforcing the tax law, accusing it of unconditionally violating pastors’ free speech. The government has no business telling a church what a pastor can and can’t say from the pulpit, according to the advocacy group. Churches shouldn’t be forced to choose between keeping a Colonial-era tax exemption and giving up the ability to speak on issues of morals and politics, the group continued. The Johnson Amendment is a 20th century invention with no connection to the founding beliefs of religious liberty, according to ACLJ.

Why do people support the amendment? Proponents of the measure, like the Center for American Progress, argued that removing the statue would jeopardize the independence of houses of worship and expose them to political manipulation. Revoking the amendment would also remove transparency from campaign donations, the group added.