‘Long Standing Position’: National Archives Shoots Down Biden’s Last-Minute Bid To Change Constitution

The National Archives told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday that it maintains its position that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is not part of the Constitution — even after President Joe Biden’s declared otherwise.

“This is a long standing position for the Archivist and the National Archives,” a spokesperson for the National Archives said. “The underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed.”

Biden wrote on X Friday that the ERA is the “law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”

“I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years and have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex,” Biden wrote in a statement. (RELATED: Dems Attempt To Ram Through New Constitutional Amendment With Creative Legal Maneuver)

Today I’m affirming what I have long believed and what three-fourths of the states have ratified:

The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex. pic.twitter.com/oZtS6Q89zG

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 17, 2025

The Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan and Deputy Archivist William J. Bosanko said in December that the ERA “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions.”

“In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that the ratification deadline established by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable,” Shogan and Bosanko wrote. “The OLC concluded that extending or removing the deadline requires new action by Congress or the courts. Court decisions at both the District and Circuit levels have affirmed that the ratification deadlines established by Congress for the ERA are valid. Therefore, the Archivist of the United States cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment. As the leaders of the National Archives, we will abide by these legal precedents and support the constitutional framework in which we operate.”

The Biden Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion in 2022 finding that “the ERA Resolution has expired and is no longer pending before the States.”

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