The rule was introduced by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954 when he was serving as the U.S. Senate majority leader. It banned all tax-exempt organizations like churches and charities from “directly or indirectly” participating in politics, specifically in endorsement or opposition of candidates.

The 1954 Johnson Amendment (the law barring all nonprofit organizations like churches from engaging in partisan politics) has never been meaningfully enforced. During his first term, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the IRS to ease up further.