President Joe Biden on Friday declared that he believes the Equal Rights Amendment satisfied the requirements to officially be a part of the U.S. Constitution.
"In order for the amendment to be ratified, it requires three-fourths of the states to ratify it," Biden said during remarks to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "That benchmark was passed when Virginia ratified the ERA a few years ago."
Amendments become law under the U.S. Constitution once three-fourths of U.S. state legislatures ratify the amendment. However, in 2020, Virginia ratified the ERA — becoming the 38th state to do so — decades after the original deadline. The issue has posed a long legal controversy about whether the ERA can officially be an amendment.
"Today, I affirm the Equal Rights Amendment to have cleared all the necessary hurdles to be added to the U.S. Constitution now," the president added.
"The Equal Rights Amendment is the law of the land now!" Biden affirmed. "It's the 28th Amendment to the Constitution now!"
The national archivist would need to certify that the ERA as part of the U.S. Constitution, but it is not clear when or if that will happen. Biden has not directed the archivist to do so.
"I consulted dozens of constitutional scholars to make sure that it was all within the power to do this, and the fact is, we did," the president said during his final days in office.
