Tax- exempt churches may get leeway

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump today plans to relax rules barring taxexempt churches from participating in politics as part of a much-anticipated executive order on religious liberties, according to two senior White House officials.

The order also will address an Obama administration mandate that religious employers, such as Little Sisters of the Poor, provide contraception services as part of health plans, the officials said.

But it will not include a controversial provision contained in a draft leaked in February that would have potentially allowed federal contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees or single mothers on the basis of faith.

The full sweep of the measure — to be unveiled on a day when Christian conservatives visit the White House — appeared in flux Wednesday as it was vetted by White House Counsel Don McGahn and others to minimize chances of successful lawsuits against it.

In some cases, it remained unclear whether Trump would be able to accomplish all he has promised religious leaders through the use of an executive order as opposed to legislation.

As a candidate and shortly after taking office, Trump declared he would “totally destroy” what’s known as the Johnson amendment, a six-decade-old ban on churches and other tax-exempt organizations supporting political candidates.

The provision is written in the tax code and would require an act of Congress to fully repeal.