Biden declares Equal Rights Amendment ‘law of the land’. But it is not that simple.

WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Joe Biden falsely claimed Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is “the law of the land.”

The proposed amendment, passed by Congress in 1972, would guarantee equal legal rights to all Americans regardless of gender. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, surpassing the legal threshold required to enshrine the law in the Constitution.

In a statement from the White House, Biden expressed his opinion that Virginia’s ratification of the ERA means that it is now an official amendment to the US Constitution.

“In accordance with my oath and duty to the Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing to all Americans equal rights and protection under the law regardless of their gender,” Biden wrote.

However, the change requires more than the president’s opinion to become law.

US Archivist Colleen Shogan, who is responsible for carrying out amendments to the Constitution, issued a statement in December saying that the amendment cannot be certified as part of the Constitution because the deadline for ratification has already passed.

“In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel at the US Department of Justice confirmed that the ratification deadline set by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable,” Shogan wrote. “Therefore, the Archivist of the United States cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Moving that deadline, she noted, would require new action by Congress.

“Personal opinions or beliefs are not relevant; as leaders of the National Archives, we support established legal processes and decisions,” added Shogan.

Biden’s post via X highlighting the presumed ratification received a community memo correction on Friday.

“There is no 28th amendment,” the note reads.

Several commentators also criticized Biden for the supposed move.

“No, sorry, you can’t just ‘declare’ the 28th Amendment any more than I can declare you dead,” quipped political commentator Ben Shapiro. “It requires a forensic pathologist. And this requires a constitutional process.”

“This ‘statement’ is as meaningless as the Equal Rights Amendment itself, which has been dead for decades,” wrote Kristen Waggoner, president of the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. “The President cannot circumvent the Constitution and declare something the ‘law of the land’ via a graphic of X.”

Late. Mike Lee, R-Utah, responded with a sarcastic GIF of a scene from “The Office” that read “I didn’t say it, I stated it.”

Several White House representatives did not respond to a request for comment from The National Desk on Friday seeking clarification on why Biden chose to describe the amendment as “the law of the land.”

Some women have expressed concern that the ERA could do more harm than good. A 2019 analysis of the amendment published in the Harvard Undergraduate Law Review warned the ERA could remove many legal protections that women have fought hard to earn.

“While the Equal Rights Amendment represents a victory for women, it also removes the legal protections they enjoy,” the analysis reads. “While activists advocating the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment claim that it exists to protect and uphold equality for both sexes, it does no such thing.”

“All the Equal Rights Amendment does is close legal gender gaps that can do far more harm to women than help,” the analysis continues.

Biden’s claim comes ahead of his exit from the White House as he hands over the presidency to President-elect Donald Trump. He delivered a farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, touting his success in office.

“Every day I have kept my commitment to be president of all Americans during one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” he said. “It will take time to feel the full impact of everything we’ve done together. But the seeds have been planted. And they will grow and they will flourish for decades to come.”

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