In court filings Monday, the IRS has largely backed down on a decades-old rule that barred churches from engaging in political activity.

The agency's agreement in a court filing formally reverses a decades-old provision of the tax code, but the motion would need to be approved by a judge.

The impact of a new Internal Revenue Service rule that enables churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit without endangering their tax-exempt status will likely be felt most in California's more conservative regions, where evangelical pastors have outsize political influence.