Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic measure to revive the Equal Rights Amendment, dealing yet another blow to supporters who have pushed for more than five decades to amend the Constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sex.

Democrats failed to win the necessary 60 votes to move forward with the resolution, which would have removed a 1982 deadline for state ratification and reopened the process to amend the Constitution.

The 51-47 vote included support from two Republicans, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski — well short of the 10 GOP votes needed.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., put the resolution up for a vote this week, even as it was unlikely to pass. He said it was especially timely in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion.

“Women in America have far fewer rights today than they did even a year ago,” Schumer said.

After the vote, Schumer said the Senate is “not giving up,” and would keep trying to pass the measure.

Congress sent the amendment, which guarantees men and women equal rights under the law, to the states in 1972. It gave states seven years to ratify it, later extending the deadline to 1982. But the amendment wasn’t ratified by the required three-quarters of states before the deadline.

Three years ago, however, Virginia lawmakers voted to ratify the amendment, becoming the 38th and final state needed.

At the same time, several states — including Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky and South Dakota — have attempted to remove their prior approval.

States can support the federal version individually, though it is not ratified into the U.S. Constitution, so those ratifications remain mostly symbolic.

In a statement of policy, the White House said that President Joe Biden “strongly supports” extending the deadline and that it is long past time.

“Gender equality is not only a moral issue – the full participation of women and girls across all aspects of our society is essential to our economic prosperity, our security, and the health of our democracy,” the White House said.

Republicans have argued that Democrats are trying to rewrite history.

“The Democrats’ novel unconstitutional approach bypasses states’ rights and circumvents the process our founders put in place,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., after the vote. “This is simply another liberal wish list item meant to drive a political wedge.”

Share:
More In Politics
Why Putin Seems So Focused on Invading Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin openly invaded the neighboring country of Ukraine on Thursday following weeks of overtures and discussions on keeping an incursion from happening. David Salvo, the deputy director for the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar to go into the Russian leader's motivations. "What I'm sure he understands is that his invasion of Ukraine in 2014 probably ended the discussion of Ukraine joining NATO, even if publicly we won't admit that, that's just the reality. And I'm sure that President Putin understands that," he said, noting that Putin could be using the taking of Ukraine territory as leverage to gain more security concessions from the West.
U.S. Warns Banks to Prepare for Potential Cyberattacks
Following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, the U.S. is warning businesses and major banks to brace themselves for cyberattacks. Lester Munson, a senior fellow at the National Security Institute, joined Cheddar News to break down what this means for financial institutions “So we need to be concerned about not just intentional Russian hacks against American entities but also what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Those things can impact us as well," he said
What Investors Could Prepare for Amid Russian Invasion of Ukraine
After weeks of talks and posturing in hopes of staving off an attack, Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, an incident that has already impacted the global economy, including the U.S.. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis for Morning Consult, joined Cheddar’s Closing Bell to break down what investors might do to prepare themselves as the crisis continues. "I think there are a few things that we have our eye on over at Morning Consult that could cause the situation to become a bit more severe or unstable as far as market outcomes would be concerned," McMann said. "One of those things would be if the U.S. and the EU kind of moved in concerted fashion to block Russia from the SWIFT transaction system. So, I would say that's one thing that would be worth keeping an eye on."
Load More