In court filings July 7, the IRS has largely backed down on a decades-old rule that barred churches from engaging in political activity.

A 2019 survey by Pew Research found that 76% of Americans and 70% of Christians say clergy should not endorse candidates from the pulpit, though evangelicals (62%) and Black Protestants (55%) are less likely to disapprove. Nearly two-thirds of Americans wanted churches to stay out of politics.

Comparing it to a family discussion, the Internal Revenue Service agreed on Monday that pastors and other religious leaders can endorse political candidates to their congregation without threatening their tax-exempt status under a decades-old legislation called the Johnson Amendment.