Sweetheart Measure for Churches Stripped From GOP Tax Bill

A version of the tax bill hurtling through Congress included an amendment that would have allowed churches to get even more political. Democrats helped kill it.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

December 15 2017 12:21 PM EST

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Republicans pushed for a repeal of the 1954 Johnson Amendment -- which prohibits churches and nonprofits from engaging in partisan politics, such as lobbying and campaigning for specific candidates -- in the proposed tax bill, but failed to get their way.

A Senate parliamentarian stripped the tax bill, which gives numerous breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals, of the Johnson Amendment repeal, Rep. Ron Wyden of Oregon told The Hill. The Johnson Amendment repeal didn't have enough to do with the actual budget to be included in the legislation, according to the parliamentarian.

"I will continue to fight all attempts to eliminate this critical provision that keeps the sanctity of our religious institutions intact, prevents the flow of dark money in politics, and keeps taxpayer dollars from advancing special interest biddings," Wyden said in a statement first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The repeal of the Johnson Amendment, named for then-Sen, Lyndon Johnson, was pushed by right-wing Republicans like President Trump and Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. LGBT organizations bristled at the thought of churches being granted even more political clout and pastors being allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit.