Senate Republicans Block Advance of Equal Rights Amendment Resolution

Senate Republicans block Equal Rights Amendment resolution that would prohibit sex discrimination.
The vote for the measure resulted in 51-47, failing to meet the necessary 60 votes for the Senate to formally take it up.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the vote during a Monday speech.

Senate Republicans have collectively blocked a procedural measure on a joint resolution to pass the Equal Rights Amendment that would prohibit sex discrimination.

The resolution sought to remove an expired deadline for states to ratify the amendment, which was never added to the United States Constitution. The situation comes a century after the amendment was first introduced to Congress.

Senate GOP Blocks Advance of ERA Resolution

The vote for the bill resulted in 51-47, failing to reach the required 60 in order for the Senate to formally take up the measure. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York announced the vote of the measure in a Monday speech. A spokesperson for Schumer, Angelo Roefaro, said that they chose this week for the vote after working for several months with advocates, as per RollCall.

In the version of the ERA that Congress passed in 1972, it said that equality of rights under United States law will not be denied or abridged by the government or by any state on account of sex.

On Thursday, the White House released a statement showing its support for the Senate measure. It noted that the Joe Biden administration "strongly supports" nixing the 1982 deadline and cited a recent assessment of the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel of the legality of such a move.

The statement noted that no one's rights should be denied on account of their sex in the U.S. It argued that it was way past the time to enshrine the principle of gender equality in the country's Constitution.

Prohibiting Sex Discrimination

The failure of the vote on the measure comes despite having two Republican lawmakers as co-sponsors, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. The GOP has largely argued that it does not believe that the amendment is necessary because of the equal protections provided to women in the 14th Amendment, according to CNN.

However, supporters of the measure argued that ERA would ban discrimination on the basis of sex and guarantee that there is equality for all people under the Constitution. Democrats will use the failed vote as a way to put GOP lawmakers on the spot regarding the issue.

However, there is little to no expectation that both chambers of Congress will pass the resolution in the future. Across the country, 38 states have ratified ERA, which seemingly shows that it has met the required three-fourths needed to be approved.

However, some of these states only adopted the measure after a congressionally mandated deadline had already passed. This raised questions regarding the validity of those actions and many others later chose to rescind their support of it.

Defending the measure on the Senate floor, Schumer said that the resolution was necessary and timely. He argued that the United States can never hope to be the land of freedom and opportunity if it allows half of its population to be treated like second-class citizens, said The Hill.