Multiple groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that a district court wrongly dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Johnson Amendment’s ban on political campaign speech for tax-exempt organizations. (National Religious Broadcasters v. Bessent, No. 26-40237, amicus briefs filed 7/14/2026)

In March, Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissed a lawsuit brought by National Religious Broadcasters and other religious groups, ruling the court was barred from approving a proposed settlement (827 F.Supp.3d 967). The plaintiffs and the government had jointly asked the court to approve a settlement that would have narrowed the Johnson Amendment’s application to houses of worship. However, Judge Barker ruled that the Tax Anti-Injunction Act (AIA), which bars suits aimed at restraining tax collection, stripped the court of jurisdiction.

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