President Biden says he believes the amendment has met the requirements to be enshrined in the Constitution. Its history has been long and complex.

PHILADELPHIA — Progressive activists in Congress have put mounting pressure on President Joe Biden to direct the archivist of the United States to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment — which would become the first explicit mention of women in the U.

President Joe Biden has weighed in on the decades-long Equal Rights Amendment debate, but does his statement hold any weight? Experts say no.

If Biden really wanted to make the ERA the “law of the land,” he would have needed to direct the head of the National Archives to ignore the Department of Justice. But he didn't do that—or really anything for women's rights during his presidency.

The remarks were largely a symbolic gesture of support for a century-long campaign to enshrine gender equality in the Constitution. But advocates said they could add heft to a future legal fight.

“Equality is a fundamental promise of our democracy. That is why the Equal Rights Amendment belongs in our Constitution,” Harris said in a statement. “It makes our nation stronger, and it is the law of the land because the American people have spoken in states across our nation.”

President Joe Biden announced Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution, making a symbolic statement that’s unlikely to alter a decades-long push for gender equality.