President Biden, the ERA, and Constitutional Vandalism

On January 27, 2020 , the Commonwealth of Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment .

Peter Bergen : It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people.

He says Congress can and has placed operative language in amending resolutions, not just in proposed article text.

Bergen says the ERA's doubtful validity could provoke a minor constitutional crisis.

Julian Zelizer : Underappreciated historical evidence suggests that Congress was right to think it could place operative language in a proposing resolution.

Zelizer says that this language would be legally effective even without being repeated in a proposed article's text.

He says Congress 's language was deliberately chosen; it was repeated by states in their instruments of ratification; it seems to have been accepted as legally effective at the time.