Push to add long-sought Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution fails in the Senate

The Senate's latest effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment failed Thursday – 100 years after it was first introduced to Congress.

The chamber voted on a bipartisan resolution led by Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that would have removed a stipulation preventing Congress from enshrining the ERA to the U.S. Constitution.

The effort fell short of overcoming the Senate filibuster standard with a vote of 51-47. The motion required the support of 60 senators to advance the legislation.

The Biden Administration voiced its support for the resolution in a statement Thursday, saying "it is long past time to definitively enshrine the principle of gender equality in the Constitution." 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, called the resolution “as necessary as it is timely” on the chamber floor before the Senate voted.

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“America can never hope to be a land of freedom and opportunity so long as half its population is treated like second class citizens,” he said.

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What is the Equal Rights Amendment?

The Equal Rights Amendment states: "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 first introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed in 1972, triggering the requirement that 38 states ratify it before it could be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers first set a seven-year deadline for the ratification process before extending it to 1982.

While 35 states adopted the amendment by the extended deadline, the required state threshold wasn’t met until 2020, when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA – 38 years after the revised deadline.

'It's time to clear the path to equality:Senate revisits Equal Rights Amendment after 40 years

After Virginia ratified the amendment, the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump issued an opinion stating that the states missed the 1982 ratification deadline, requiring Congress to restart the constitutional amendment process. 

In 2021, the House narrowly passed a resolution to remove the 1982 deadline – an effort that stalled in the, at the time, equally divided Senate. Thursday’s vote reignited the effort to remove the deadline, which would result in the recognition of the ERA as a valid addition to the Constitution.

Schumer pushes for ERA vote despite opposition

Schumer, announced the vote Monday, arguing that the passage and ratification of the ERA has never been as urgent as it is now. He pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and efforts to restrict access to abortion pill mifepristone as examples.

“In this ominous hour of American history, the Equal Rights Amendment has never been as necessary and urgent as it is today.” Schumer said in a statement. “It has been exactly 100 years since the first ERA was proposed in Congress. American women cannot afford to wait 100 more.”

Schumer’s announcement comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on the ERA in nearly 40 years in February, following reinvigorated efforts to bolster women’s rights after the rise of the Me Too movement in 2017 and growing legal challenges to abortion and reproductive care.  

But despite the revived effort, the ERA continues to face several barriers, including legal questions on whether Congress has the authority to remove the 1982 deadline and whether states can rescind their ratification after five states – Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee and South Dakota – voted to make the move. 

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, brought up both concerns during the February hearing. However, others argue that because Congress had the power to impose a deadline, it has the power to remove it as well.

"What has happened in the states should not die here in the Senate," Murkowski said during the February hearing. “The fact is there is no law, there is no Supreme Court precedent that says our resolution is unconstitutional or something that Congress cannot do."

Contributing: Rachel Looker, USA TODAY