With a little more than 72 hours remaining in his presidency on Friday, President Biden made a big move on the Equal Rights Amendment. "It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people," he said in a statement. "In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex." White House officials, however, acknowledged that the statement doesn't have the force of law, Politico reports.
The amendment essentially consists of one sentence: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." It was sent to the states by Congress in 1972, the year before Biden became a senator. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it, meaning the threshold of three-quarters of the states had been reached. The deadline for ratification was 1982, but a White House official says Biden agrees with an American Bar Association opinion that "stresses that no time limit was included in the text of the Equal Rights Amendment," CNN reports.
- What happens now? To formally become part of the Constitution, the ERA would have to be certified and published by National Archivist Colleen Shogan, NPR reports. Shogan, a Biden appointee, has argued that Congress will have to lift the expiry date. The White House says Shogan won't be ordered to add the amendment, which will leave it in limbo for now. CNN notes that Biden's opinion is likely to meet "swift legal challenges"—and, like many of his other last-minute actions, it could easily be reversed when President-elect Trump takes office on Monday.
"I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex," Biden said. We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women's full equality once and for all." He did not, however, explain why he had waited until three days before leaving office to make the move. The New York Times describes it as a late effort from Biden "to bring about profound change and shape his own legacy, but without taking actual action." Former Sen. Russ Feingold, however, tells the Times that it is "completely historic to have the president of the United States say it's already in the Constitution," adding, "I believe and many believe that whether or not the archivist certifies it or not doesn't matter." (More Equal Rights Amendment stories.)
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