Executive Order 13798, signed on May 4, 2017, directed the Department of the Treasury to issue guidance weakening enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, a provision of the Internal Revenue Code enacted in 1954 that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including religious institutions, from engaging in political campaign activity or making contributions to political candidates. The order instructed the IRS not to take enforcement action against tax-exempt organizations based solely on their political speech, fundamentally altering how the federal government monitors and enforces restrictions on tax-exempt entities' political activities. By instructing Treasury to narrow the conditions under which organizations could lose their tax-exempt status, the executive order created a protected zone for religious organizations to engage in electoral politics without fear of IRS sanctions.

Religious organizations and churches represent the most direct beneficiaries of this policy shift. Pastors and religious leaders gained explicit latitude to endorse candidates from the pulpit, and churches could allocate resources to political campaigns while maintaining tax-exempt status. This affected millions of congregants and donors whose contributions to religious institutions now subsidize political activity through foregone tax revenue. The order particularly empowered evangelical churches and other faith-based organizations that had sought greater political voice in elections.

This action reflects a broader pattern within the Trump administration's civil rights enforcement approach characterized by narrowing protections and reducing government oversight of protected categories. Similar to how the Education Department later slowed discrimination complaint processing by 30 percent, this executive order effectively reduces enforcement mechanisms while expanding latitude for certain groups—in this case, religious institutions engaged in political speech. The administration framed the order as protecting religious liberty and free speech, yet it simultaneously created asymmetrical enforcement where tax-exempt status protections strengthen for religious political activity while other civil rights enforcement mechanisms, as documented in subsequent Education Department actions, contracted considerably.

The legal status of the Johnson Amendment itself remains unchanged in statute, though Treasury guidance under this order substantially narrowed enforcement. The executive order has withstood legal challenges, though no court has definitively resolved whether the guidance properly reflects statutory intent or constitutes an improper administrative override of congressional intent.