Awww. Republicans are being blocked from giving themselves and their billionaire donors one of the gifts they’d planned for their tax bill. The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Republicans can’t include a provision letting churches and 501(c)3 non-profits endorse candidates in the bill if they want to use reconciliation to pass it with 51 votes.
Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) office confirmed to The Hill on Thursday night that the Senate parliamentarian had determined the inclusion of the Johnson Amendment repeal did not meet Senate rules that requires elements of the tax bill have something to do with taxes. [...]
"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.
Donald Trump is not going to be happy:
The proposal was a major priority for President Trump, who vowed to repeal the amendment during the 2016 presidential campaign, saying it would "give our churches their voice back."
Mind you, the ban on tax-exempt organizations (like churches) endorsing candidates has been in place since 1954, so it’s not like there’s a big constituency of ministers who were slapped with a gag order in the last couple years. Even under current law, plenty of churches engage in politics vigorously through issue advocacy and voter registration—and the ban on actual endorsements is enforced barely if at all. Not to mention, Republicans are claiming this is about free speech in churches, but somehow that tax deduction for billionaires giving political dark money got in there, too.
Billionaire Republicans will continue to be able to put limitless money into political spending, but it won’t be tax deductible as the Republican Congress had hoped to allow. If the IRS is enforcing anything these days.