A new report released Thursday by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias reveals what investigators describe as a "stark contrast" and a systemic double standard in how the Biden Internal Revenue Service policed American churches. 

“The Biden IRS … [opened] multiple investigations into Christian churches focused on the content of their sermons. The IRS asked these churches for detailed information about their operations, not just about the alleged violations,” the task force wrote. 

“But during the same time, when other houses of worship gave sermons that reflected different scriptural interpretations on culture war issues, or prayed for Democrat candidates, the Biden IRS appeared to take no action,” the group added.

The task force, which was established by President Donald Trump in an executive order last year, reviewed internal administration discussions, case files and prosecutorial decisions from the Biden administration across 17 federal agencies. 

Beyond the IRS’s apparent targeting of conservative Christian churches, the task force concluded that the Biden administration’s prosecution strategy, internal policies and practices demonstrated an overall anti-Christian bias that permeated throughout the federal government during that period.  

“No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who chaired the task force. “As our report lays out, the Biden Administration’s actions devastated the lives of many Christian Americans. That devastation ended with President Trump.” 

The task force determined that the Biden administration used the Johnson Amendment – a 1954 provision added to the tax code which prohibits 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates – to probe churches that hold traditional Christian teachings, arguing those positions amounted to political support for Republican candidates. 

Though the amendment, in theory, limits what pastors whose churches have 501(c)3 nonprofit status can say in evaluating candidates running for political office, it has only been "sporadically enforced,” according to the Justice Department.

For example, under the Obama administration, when 30 pastors instructed their congregations in 2008 on how to vote according to their interpretation of scripture, the IRS appears to have only opened an investigation into one pastor. Even then, the IRS dropped the investigation and took no enforcement action. 

But, the Biden administration was different. The Justice Department task force documented several investigations opened by the administration into Christian churches for possible violations of the Johnson Amendment. 

In 2024, the IRS informed New Way Church in Florida that it was reviewing the organization’s compliance with the Johnson Amendment for hosting a candidate for a local school board race two years earlier. The candidate reportedly visited the church and addressed the congregation, talking about her faith and why she ran for office. The pastor reportedly also prayed for her. 

The IRS asked the church to provide information about the visit, including how many individuals were in attendance, for what purpose the candidate was invited, and whether the church participated in any other political events. 

After the church refused to answer the agency’s questions under the advice of legal counsel, the IRS ultimately dismissed the investigation. 

You can read the report below: 

That same year, another church in St. Louis, Missouri, received a letter from the IRS raising concerns about information on its website from 2022 that might “constitute political activity.” The congregation, Grace Church, published information on its website about “positions local candidates held” to educate the congregation about issues in the elections. The church also encouraged its congregation to take an active role in politics. 

The IRS wanted to know whether Grace Church published any “flyers or guides” that urged voting for or against candidates, invited any candidates to speak, and what function its “Civic Engagement groups” served in the church. 

Similarly to the prior case, the IRS dropped its probe of Grace Church after the organization obtained legal counsel.

In both of these cases cited by the Justice Department, the pastors of the churches felt that the IRS’s probe was the punishment, even if it resulted in no official actions, according to the task force’s review. 

The task force’s review also found that the Biden-era IRS also targeted Christian nonprofits that promoted civic engagement and assessed excise taxes on a church in Northern Virginia for alleged political expenditures after a sermon in which the pastor said the Republican Party platform aligns closer with Biblical values. 

In contrast, the task force found no evidence that the Biden administration ever pursued any nonprofits or churches considered liberal or that endorsed Biden for the election. In October 2020, more than 1,600 faith leaders endorsed the Democratic candidate. 

“At a minimum, there are questions with respect to the evenhandedness of the enforcement of the Johnson Amendment against particular viewpoints under the Biden IRS, which creates the appearance of disfavoring congregations and pastors whose doctrinal beliefs and related policy views did not align with the Democrat Party,” the task force concluded. 

The group also found that the Biden administration sought, but ultimately failed, to eliminate statutory protections for Christians in federal law. The administration then used policy and regulatory means to try to achieve the same goal.  

For example, the report cites the FBI’s targeting of traditional Catholics, the IRS’s probe of Christian churches for preaching aligned with conservative values, and the Department of Education’s unequal targeting of Christian universities for compliance settlements.

The task force criticized seemingly unequal prosecutions of pro-life activists charged with violations of the FACE Act compared to those who espoused pro-abortion views. The task force also pointed to Department of Health and Human Services rules to exclude Christians from being foster parents due to traditional views on gender and sexuality.