Two Texas churches and a few nonprofit organizations are taking on the IRS in federal court, claiming that their rights to free speech, religious freedom, and equal treatment are being trampled. The reason? They argue that the IRS has been turning a blind eye to left-leaning churches and nonprofit publications that support Democratic candidates, while conservative churches and organizations get slapped with penalties and threats. Seems like a familiar pattern when it comes to how the IRS handles politics.
The group’s complaint lays out several examples of how these tax-exempt, left-leaning organizations have been allowed to endorse folks like President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other high-profile Democrats with zero repercussions. Church leaders have even used their pulpits to sing the praises of Democratic favorites like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama while they were running for office. Funny how the IRS isn’t as interested in enforcing the rules when it’s their political allies breaking them.
The plaintiffs are making a simple argument: if liberal churches can get away with pushing their political agendas from the pulpit, then conservative churches should have the same freedom. They’re not asking for special treatment—just equal protection under the law, the way it’s supposed to be. In other words, if the IRS is going to look the other way for some, it should do the same for everyone.
One prime example cited in the lawsuit is Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. Back in 2020, its pastor told his congregation to vote according to biblical values, noting that the Republican platform was more aligned with those values than the Democratic one. For this, the church was hit with fines. Contrast that with left-leaning churches that openly promote Democratic candidates without so much as a slap on the wrist. Then there’s “Christians Engaged,” a nonprofit denied tax-exempt status in 2021 for teaching Bible-based values the IRS claimed were too aligned with the Republican Party. That denial was eventually reversed, but the damage had been done.
The plaintiffs aren’t just pointing out bias—they’re calling out an unequal and unfair application of the law. According to their complaint, no left-leaning or Democrat-friendly nonprofit has ever been hit with the same level of scrutiny. Meanwhile, conservative organizations are disproportionately targeted. The 1954 Johnson Amendment forbids nonprofits from engaging in political campaigns, yet the IRS seems selective about when, and against whom, it enforces this rule.
To make matters worse, the plaintiffs argue that after the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision in 2010, all other nonprofits, as well as for-profit corporations, have been free to support or oppose political candidates. Yet conservative churches operating under 501(c)(3) rules are still being muzzled. It’s a classic case of double standards, and the plaintiffs are rightly calling for an end to this unequal treatment.
