TYLER, TEXAS – Americans United for Separation of Church and State late Thursday took steps to intervene in the case National Religious Broadcasters v. Long. The federal lawsuit was brought by religious organizations challenging the Johnson Amendment, a 70-year-old federal law that prevents 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing partisan political candidates for public office.
Americans United is requesting intervenor status in response to the joint settlement proposed Monday by the Trump administration and the plaintiffs that would exempt houses of worship and religious organizations from the law. AU is asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to reject this proposal because it would grant favor and privilege to religious organizations and treat them differently than secular nonprofits – an unconstitutional violation of church-state separation.
“The Trump administration’s radical reinterpretation of the Johnson Amendment is a flagrant, self-serving attack on church-state separation that threatens our democracy by favoring houses of worship over other nonprofits and inserting them into partisan politics,” said AU President and CEO Rachel Laser. “President Trump and his Christian Nationalist allies are once again exploiting religion to boost their own political power. We’re intervening in this case so we can urge the court to reject the administration’s latest gambit to re-write the law.
“Americans United has long supported the Johnson Amendment because it protects the integrity of both our elections and nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship. The majority of Americans – including faith leaders, evangelical Christians and Republicans – don’t want their churches embroiled in the corrupting influence of partisan politics. Weakening this law would undermine houses of worship and nonprofits by transforming them into political action committees, flooding our elections with even more dark money.”
When the prior Trump administration threatened the Johnson Amendment, 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 working on the intervention in the case include, at Americans United, Vice President and Legal Director Rebecca S. Markert, Litigation Counsel Alexandra Zaretsky and Constitutional Litigation Fellow Jess Zalph; and Martin Woodward of Kitner Woodward PPLC in Dallas.
Americans United is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Liz Hayes
Associate Vice President of Communications
[email protected]
