Staff Reports
Joe Biden’s departure from the White House is shaping up to be a theatrical exit that would make even the most dramatic soap opera star envious. In a bizarre twist of political mischief, he recently declared on social media that the Equal Rights Amendment is now the law of the land in the United States, despite the glaringly obvious fact that it hasn’t achieved the legal status needed to make that claim remotely legitimate. This move appears to be a desperate attempt at sowing confusion as he heads for the exit, all while waving a metaphorical flag of constitutional chaos.
The Equal Rights Amendment has been flirted with in Congress since 1923, but it really rolled up its sleeves and went to work in 1972 when it passed with a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. It was then sent to the states for ratification, accompanied by a seven-year deadline—which lawmakers tried to stretch a bit before finally throwing in the towel in 1982. In the great game of state ratification, only 35 states got on board, just three shy of the required 38. This is an undeniable fact that even the most ardent supporters of the amendment can’t spin otherwise.
Biden loses it – literally tries changing the Constitution on way out!https://t.co/4aoI4FiLx0
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) January 19, 2025
So what’s driving Biden’s audacious declaration? It seems some Democrats have embarked on a legal adventure that can only be described as “alternative facts.” Their logic revolves around the notion that the deadline can simply be ignored. Nevada took the bait in 2017, followed by Illinois and Virginia, which ratified the amendment as if the previous rules didn’t exist. However, when this clever legal theory found its way to the courts, it fell flat, confirming what most citizens—including rationalists across the political spectrum—already knew: deadlines matter, especially in the world of law.
On top of this, there’s a troubling layer of complexity. Even if the timeline were dismissed, how many states would actually back it? The answer is murky at best. Five of the original ratifying states—Nebraska, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Dakota—decided to hit the brakes and rescind their earlier support. The hot topic in legal circles ahora is whether states can effectively take back their ratification and whether they can do so during or after any given ratification period. To say that the waters are muddy would be an understatement.
Biden’s insistence on pushing the ERA as if it’s already enshrined in the Constitution borders on the absurd. If it truly became law in 2020 following Virginia’s opinion, one would expect that legal professionals would have eagerly employed it in the countless Supreme Court cases involving gender rights since then. But that hasn’t happened. The legal community appears to be collectively agreeing that this issue has no basis in law. Even late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg advised advocates to press reset on the whole endeavor—essentially delivering the verdict that the clock had run out on this attempt.
This ongoing saga reflects not just a challenge to constitutional order, but a blatant disregard for the very laws that bind the nation together. Biden, alongside esteemed members of his party, is playing a game of political theater while undermining the bedrock principles of governance. For those who value the rule of law and a structured amendment process, this attempt at redefining reality through hollow rhetoric could be considered yet another reason Biden’s presidency is often characterized as a monumental failure.
