A dozen House Democrats marched to the Senate floor to protest the body as it voted against removing the deadline that prevents the Equal Rights Amendment from being ratified and made a part of the Constitution.
The group, led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Cori Bush (D-MO) in their capacities as co-chairwomen of the Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus, chanted as they walked through the Capitol toward a press conference with several Senate Democrats outside. They were joined by members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. The Senate voted 51-47 on Thursday against the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights under the law regardless of sex.
SCHUMER’S EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT VOTE FAILS 51-47 IN SENATE
“What do we want? ERA! When do we want it? Now!” the group chanted as they marched toward the press conference outside.
Speaking outside the Capitol, Pressley said she wished she could say she was “disappointed” by the failure, “but in order to be disappointed, I would have to be surprised.”
The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1923, though it did not pass until 1972. At least three-quarters of all 50 states, or a minimum of 38, must ratify an amendment for it to be added to the Constitution. Congress set a 1979 deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment to be ratified by the states, later extending that deadline to 1982, though only 35 states had ratified it by that point.
Three additional states, Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia, ratified the amendment in recent years, however, giving the Equal Rights Amendment the necessary support to be added to the Constitution. With that, the deadline was the only roadblock still standing in the Equal Rights Amendment’s way.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) brought a bipartisan resolution lifting the 1982 deadline, led by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), to the floor for a vote on Thursday despite lacking the necessary support to pass it. Democrats only control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, far below the 60-vote filibuster threshold required to pass most legislation in the chamber. While the resolution had some GOP support, Murkowski and Cardin could not secure enough Republican votes before Schumer brought the bill to the floor.
After the resolution failed, Schumer switched his vote from yes to no, a procedural tactic allowing him to bring the resolution back up for consideration at a later date.
