This resolution (S. J. Res 4) purports that the Equal Rights Amendment “is valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution, having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States.”
The Senate did not vote directly on S. J. Res. 4, but on a motion to invoke cloture (and thus limit debate) so the bill could be voted on. The motion to invoke cloture was rejected on April 27, 2023 by a vote of 51 to 47 (Roll Call 99; a three-fifths majority of the entire Senate is required to invoke cloture). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the claim that the ERA is a “valid … part of the Constitution” is a sham. When Congress submitted the ERA to the states for ratification in 1972, it set a seven-year ratification period that ended on March 22, 1979. During that period, 35 states ratified the ERA, but four of those states reconsidered and rescinded their ratifications. This left the ERA seven states short of the three-fourths majority (38 states) needed to become part of the Constitution. Prior to the deadline, when it became apparent the 38-state threshold would not be reached, Congress extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. This legally dubious extension caused a fifth state to rescind, and during the extension period no new states ratified. In recent years, three new states have ratified the ERA. But to claim that this makes the ERA part of the Constitution is to ignore the long-expired deadlines, as well as the five states that rescinded.
