WASHINGTON — After the Internal Revenue Service lifted its ban on churches and religious institutions endorsing political candidates, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued the longstanding precedent stemmed from a misinterpretation of “separation of church and state.”
In an op-ed post on the social media site X over the weekend, the top House Republican argued that Americans have been “misled” for years over how religion and politics should intersect. Johnson argued that those who insist on keeping church and state completely separate are “unaware” the phrase derives from personal communications between President Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptist Association rather than being explicitly stated in the Constitution.
“Jefferson said he revered ‘that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State,’” Johnson wrote. “Jefferson clearly did not mean that metaphorical ‘wall’ was to keep religion from influencing issues of civil government. To the contrary, it was meant to keep the federal government from impeding the religious practice of citizens.”
Instead, Johnson argued, religious and moral values “help prevent political corruption and the abuse of power.”
Johnson’s comments come after the IRS announced last week that churches and other religious organizations can endorse political candidates in certain circumstances, reversing decades of legal precedent that barred those organizations from doing so.
The court filing carves out a narrow exception to what is known as the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 tax code provision that prohibits non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates running for office.
The move marks a major win for evangelical voters and follows through on a promise from President Donald Trump during his first presidential campaign to overrule the amendment altogether.
Johnson praised that decision, arguing the amendment is unconstitutional. The speaker called the decision significant to ensure “people of faith are no longer censored” through the tax code, describing it as a “teachable moment about one of the most misunderstood subjects in our culture.”
“The majority of the Founders, having personally witnessed the abuses of the Church of England, were determined to prevent the official establishment of any single national denomination or religion,” Johnson wrote.
“However, they very deliberately listed religious liberty (the free exercise of religion) as the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights because they wanted everyone to freely live out their faith — as that would ensure a robust presence of moral virtue in the public square and the free marketplace of ideas,” he added.
Johnson called on the federal courts to uphold the IRS decision, arguing it was crucial to ensure that “religious principles and viewpoints” are not separate from public affairs.