The Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group, organized the Pulpit Freedom campaign for years but eventually gave up.
Madeline Ziegler, a staff attorney for FFRF, said the organization files about 30 complaints about alleged violations of the Johnson amendment. Each time, Zielger said, the organization receives a form letter in response. “They always explain they cannot disclose whether they have started an investigation or the status of any investigation,” Ziegler said.
Ziegler shared a letter from the IRS, dated August 29, 2020, acknowledging receipt of the FFRF complaint. “The IRS has an ongoing audit program to ensure compliance with the Internal Revenue Code (IRC),” the letter read. “We’ll consider the information you submitted in this program.”
Such letters may not be as rare as prosecutions. Attorneys for New Way Church in Palm Coast, Florida, claimed earlier this month that the IRS had launched an investigation against the church after a local school board candidate spoke at the church in 2022 and explained why she was running for office. The church’s pastor prayed for the candidate, New Way attorneys claimed in a statement.
“We have some questions about your tax-exempt status as a church under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501 (a) and/or your liability for tax,” read a 2024 letter from the IRS. “Our concerns are based on information we are in possession of indicating you may have conducted political campaign activities which are prohibited under IRC Section 501 (c) (3).”
The letter instructed the church to fill out a “Church Tax Inquiry Questions” form.
Lawyers from the First Liberty Institute say the investigation was later closed.
“We are pleased that the IRS not only closed its investigation, but affirmed that this church’s activities of praying for political candidates during its church service do not threaten its tax-exempt status,” Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in a statement.
Earlier this year, the National Religious Broadcasters filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the Johnson Amendment. That lawsuit claimed that nonprofit newspapers are allowed to endorse candidates, but churches are not.
This article originally appeared here.
