On Thursday, President Trump will sign an executive order to ease restrictions on tax-exempt churches and nonprofits endorsing political candidates and providing contraception coverage in employee insurance plans, the White House said Wednesday night. Unlike in a draft of the executive order leaked in February, this one will not free faith-based organizations and companies to refuse service to gays and lesbians or allow federal contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees.
The executive order, which Trump will sign at a ceremony with conservative Christian leaders, will say "it is the policy of the administration to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty," but the only specific parts will be the broad "regulatory relief" on the already weakened Obama-era contraception mandate and the new order that the Internal Revenue Service "exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment," a little-enforced 1954 rule in the U.S. tax code that prohibits churches and charities from directly supporting or opposing candidates, if they want to be exempt from paying taxes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's order will essentially tell the IRS to "carve as wide a berth as possible" in not enforcing the amendment, allowing churches to openly participate in political campaigns, at least as long as Trump is in office, Richard Garnett, a law professor at Notre Dame and an expert on church/state issues, tells The New York Times.
-
September 1 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Labor Day picnic, branding strategy, and more
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
When does autumn begin?The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
