President Donald Trump at the annual National Prayer
Breakfast told his audience that he “will get rid of and totally destroy the
Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and
without fear of retribution.”
“The amendment, passed in 1954, prohibits churches and other tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates; repealing it—which Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also vowed to do on the 2016 campaign trail—"would theoretically allow houses of worship and religious leaders to openly advocate for political candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status, while also allowing them to funnel religious donations into explicitly political efforts," according to Emma Green at The Atlantic.”
“Lifting those
guidelines would erode the separation of church and state as we know it, allowing
churches to effectively operate as America’s most powerful Super PACs,” writes
Salon’s Nico Lang.“The amendment, passed in 1954, prohibits churches and other tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates; repealing it—which Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also vowed to do on the 2016 campaign trail—"would theoretically allow houses of worship and religious leaders to openly advocate for political candidates while retaining their tax-exempt status, while also allowing them to funnel religious donations into explicitly political efforts," according to Emma Green at The Atlantic.”
Suggested reading: The scary implications of Trump’s Prayer Breakfast speech
