Affirmation of intent made at today’s National Prayer breakfast
Tiffany Muller, Executive Director of End Citizens United, today released the following statement on President Trump’s renewed pledge to overturn the Johnson Amendment.
“Donald Trump’s pledge to “destroy” the Johnson Amendment is a brazen attempt at subverting the bedrocks of our society. If it’s repealed, Big Money would, without hesitation, use charities and churches as a pipeline to funnel unlimited, anonymous money into politics. This would give mega donors not only a vehicle to hide political contributions, but they would get a tax break for doing so. Mixing up elections with the work of these critical institutions threatens the integrity of both our civil society and our democracy.”
Organizations classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Tax Code prohibits churches, charities, and other similar nonprofits from endorsing and actively supporting candidates if they wish to maintain tax exemptions. The Johnson Amendment does not forbid pastors or congregation members from stating their personal political views or from donating to candidates. It does protect the public from being fooled into contributing to a fraud charity designed only to conduct political action, rather than working for the common good.
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