In its application for church status, the organization said it met 11 of the 14 characteristics that the IRS uses to determine whether an organization is a church, including an established place of worship - a chapel in the organization’s Washington office building, at which it said it holds services attended by more than 65 people. The FRC sought and received reclassification from a standard tax-exempt charity to an “association of churches” in 2020. The FRC’s website describes the organization as “a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to articulating and advancing a family-centered philosophy of public life,” noting that it provides “policy research and analysis for the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.” The IRS told ProPublica that it does not comment on congressional correspondence. The Family Research Council did not respond to requests for comment. “Tax-exempt organizations should not be exploiting tax laws applicable to churches to avoid public accountability and the IRS’s examination of their activities,” they wrote. Wade and its advocacy for legislation seeking to ban gender-affirming surgery. “FRC is one example of an alarming pattern in the last decade - right-wing advocacy groups self-identifying as ‘churches’ and applying for and receiving church status,” the representatives wrote, noting the organization’s policy work supporting the overturning of Roe v. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., signed onto the letter. Thirty-eight other lawmakers, including Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., raised transparency concerns in a letter to the heads of both agencies following a ProPublica story about the Family Research Council, a right-wing Christian think tank based in Washington, D.C., getting reclassified as a church. climate policy and the democratic process – two topics in focus as Biden struggles to make good on pledges to cut planet-warming emissions.Forty members of Congress on Monday asked the IRS and the Treasury to investigate what the lawmakers termed an “alarming pattern” of right-wing advocacy groups registering with the tax agency as churches, a move that allows the organizations to shield themselves from some financial reporting requirements and makes it easier to avoid audits. Raskin's remarks were part of a broader conversation with reporters on U.S. In recent weeks, Manchin has indicated he could go along with a plan that makes climate change investments, paid for by raising tax revenues and lowering costs of prescription drugs covered by Medicare.Īides to some Democratic lawmakers lately have also expressed confidence that lawmakers may be coalescing around a revised climate change bill. To date, no Republican members have backed the legislation, making Manchin the best hope for passing any bill.Ĭongressional leaders will be keeping a close eye also on another conservative Democrat, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has raised objections in the past to parts of Biden’s domestic investment initiative. Passing even a slimmed-down version likely would require support from every Democrat in the Senate, which is evenly split between the Republican and Democratic parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, holding the power to cast tie-breaking votes to secure victories for her party.ĭespite Raskin's optimism, nothing is certain and negotiations could still fall short. Those provisions could include incentives for adopting renewable energy, electric vehicles or carbon capture technologies. power and transportation sectors that together account for about half the U.S. The original 'Build Back Better' package included provisions to reduce emissions from the U.S. 'We're disappointed that 'Build Back Better' as originally advanced in its entirety won't be going, but we're convinced that major chunks of it, including the $550 billion investment in renewable and safe energy, will find its way onto the floor of the House (of Representatives) and the floor of the Senate,' Raskin said.

Representative raskin