Religious Extremists Funding Republicans in Exchange for Legislating LGBTQ Americans Out of Existence

Trump has been making every effort possible to destroy The Johnson Amendment, an 1954 law introduced by former President Lyndon B. Johnson into section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code dealing with tax-exempt religious organizations. The objective was to restrict the involvement in partisan politics by churches that wanted to be exempt from paying taxes.

The Amendment specifically states:

“Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”

While Trump and his loyalists in senate have yet to achieve the goal of dismantling the law, a proposal to do just that on behalf of Trump currently sits in the Ways and Means Committee awaiting deliberation courtesy of Steve Scalise, R-La.

Unfortunately, Trump has created a scenario where removing the law is no longer necessary to achieve his goal. Rendering it obsolete, Trump issued his own Executive Order, signed May 4th, 2017, demanding the US Treasury Department be lenient in its enforcement of The Johnson Amendment against religious organizations.

Specifically, the Executive Order reads:

“The Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure, to the extent…