President Joe Biden’s recent social media proclamation that he believes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has been ratified as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been subjected to severe scrutiny and criticism. In his statement, Biden asserted his long-term support for this amendment, declaring it to be the law of the land, promising all Americans equal rights and protections under the law, irrespective of their sex.
This declaration, however, was marked as incorrect by a community note on the X platform, which cited Biden’s Department of Justice. The National Archivist, who is responsible for enrolling new amendments, has on record that the ERA has not been lawfully ratified. This stance echoes a legal opinion provided by the Biden Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2022.
The ERA required approval from three-fourths of the states to be ratified, with Congress setting a deadline for this approval as 1982. While some states did vote to ratify the amendment post this deadline, the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
Biden’s claim sparked widespread backlash online, with critics, including Fox News’ Brit Hume and The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, arguing that Biden’s statement both misrepresents how the Constitution works and oversteps his presidential powers.
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