In the final days of his administration, President Joe Biden on Friday declared the 28th Amendment, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), the “law of the land,” despite never being ratified by Congress.
Today I'm affirming what I have long believed and what three-fourths of the states have ratified:
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 17, 2025
The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex. pic.twitter.com/oZtS6Q89zG
The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923 by the National Woman's Party to add sex-based protections to the Constitution under the belief that the 19th Amendment was insufficient to provide equal federal protections to women.
In 1972, the ERA was put before state legislatures for ratification with a seven-year deadline. Under federal law, two-thirds of the states, 38 total, would have to ratify before officially becoming a constitutional amendment. By the deadline in 1979, only 30 states had ratified the amendment. Moreover, after that time, five states rescinded their previous ratifications.
Since 1979, several other states ratified the ERA. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify. However, the states that rescinded their previous ratifications are included in that list.
In December, Marshall sent a letter to Biden and National Archivist Colleen Shogan amid rumors that the president was under pressure to ask Shogan to ratify the amendment despite the decades-lapsed deadline.
In response, Shogan and Deputy Archivist William J. Bosanko jointly released a statement, unilaterally stating they would not ratify the ERA.
"In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that the ratification deadline established by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable,” the statement read. “The OLC concluded that extending or removing the deadline requires new action by Congress or the courts. Court decisions at both the District and Circuit levels have affirmed that the ratification deadlines established by Congress for the ERA are valid. Therefore, the Archivist of the United States cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment.”
Marshall responded to Biden’s Friday announcement, calling Biden’s attempt “a fitting close to his disastrous four years in office.”
“While President Trump and his team are busy brokering unprecedented peace deals in the Middle East, assembling a top-class cabinet, and working for the American people to create a golden age of prosperity and safety, Biden now pretends to rewrite the Constitution,” Marshall said.
“No serious person believes the sham that a proposed amendment to the Constitution, which expired in the 1970s after being rejected by the American people, has somehow sneaked into our Constitution," he added. "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and other ERA supporters recognized this reality decades ago. Every judge to consider the issue—including judges appointed by Presidents Obama and Biden—has rejected this preposterous notion.”
“It is a fitting close to his disastrous four years in office, but thankfully, our nation’s experiment with lawless radical leftism will come to an end on Monday, and we will get back to fighting for American greatness," Marshall concluded.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
