Americans United applauds court ruling that maintains Johnson Amendment protections for houses of worship and elections

Tyler, Texas – Americans United for Separation of Church and State is applauding today’s court ruling in the case National Religious Broadcasters v. Bessent as a victory for church-state separation and the integrity of charitable organizations and elections. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissed the case, finding it had no authority to enter a settlement agreement proposed by the Internal Revenue Service and the plaintiffs that would have exempted houses of worship from the Johnson Amendment. This 70-year-old federal law prevents 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, from endorsing or opposing partisan political candidates for public office.

“We’re glad that the Johnson Amendment will remain a strong bulwark to stop  religious extremists from exploiting houses of worship,” said Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser. “Tax-free giving to charities should fund charitable work, not partisan politics. The proposed settlement agreement to exempt only houses of worship and not secular nonprofits would have been unfair and a violation of church-state separation. It also would have been unhealthy for our democracy because it would allow churches to become unaccountable political action committees. The court was right to reject the administration’s attempt to use the courts to rewrite our laws.”

Americans United had urged the court to reject the proposed settlement because the court had no authority to hear the case and because the proposed settlement would treat houses of worship differently than secular nonprofits – an unconstitutional violation of church-state separation.

AU and allies launched a national sign-on letter in late July that has already been joined by more than 1,800 organizations voicing support for the law. The effort is reminiscent of advocacy during Trump’s first administration when more than 4,600 faith leaders, 5,800 nonprofit organizations and 106 religious and denominational organizations weighed in to strongly oppose weakening or repealing the current law.

Attorneys who worked on the intervention in the case include, at Americans United, Vice President and Legal Director Rebecca S. Markert and Constitutional Litigation Fellow Jess Zalph; and Martin Woodward of Kitner Woodward PPLC in Dallas. Alexandra Zaretsky, formerly Litigation Counsel at Americans United, argued for the proposed intervenors at the hearing in November 2025.