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

If a judge approves a proposed court order, the IRS will soon allow churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit again without losing their nonprofit status. Churches lost the right to endorse candidates after the 1954 Johnson Amendment by former President Lyndon Johnson was approved.

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.