Biden declares Equal Rights Amendment ratified despite certification hurdles

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first proposed by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923 to ensure gender equality in the U.S. Constitution. Despite passing Congress in 1972, it failed to meet the ratification deadline in 1982. On January 17, 2025, President Biden stated that the ERA should be viewed as ratified. This declaration is symbolic, as the National Archives has not certified the amendment due to the expired ratification deadline. Recent developments include a 2023 court dismissal of a case to certify the ERA and a 2024 statement from U.S. archivists confirming that certification requires further congressional or judicial action.