Department of Justice lawyers have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court decision that kept an IRS ban on nonprofits endorsing candidates in place—the latest development in a decades-long battle over whether pastors and houses of worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates.
In a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday, lawyers for the DOJ argued that a legal principle known as the “church autonomy doctrine” would bar the IRS from enforcing that ban.
That ban is part of a law commonly known as the Johnson Amendment, which bars all nonprofits with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from taking part in political campaigns. The name is a reference to former Texas senator and President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who supported the ban.
