What Would Getting Rid Of Johnson Amendment Mean?

Published: Friday, February 17, 2017 - 3:22pm
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Earlier this month, President Donald Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and made this policy promise.

"Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs," Trump said. "That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment, and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember."

The Johnson Amendment has been in place since 1954, when then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson sponsored it. But what does it say, and what would getting rid of it mean?

To answer those, and other questions about the Johnson Amendment, is by Adam Chodorow.

Chodorow is a law professor in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, and he specializes in tax law.

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