BY ROXY SZAL | Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) just announced the first vote on the Equal Rights Amendment in the Senate in 40 years.
“The founding document has never been interpreted to guarantee that the rights of women and the rights of men as a class are simply equal,” said Schumer on Monday at a press conference at Hunter College in New York City. “That’s why I am calling for a vote on the Equal Rights Amendment.” The senator said the vote will happen “this week,” with floor debate on Wednesday and a vote on Thursday.
The ERA has had bipartisan support since its inception, and today the amendment still enjoys wide support among Democrats, Republicans and Independents. But the amendment faces an uphill climb in the Senate, where it has the public support of just two Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). (Senate Rule XXII requires senators to invoke what is called cloture to end debate and move to a vote. To do that currently requires a 60-vote majority. If the cloture motion is unsuccessful, the resolution is killed by the filibuster. The resolution can be brought back to the Senate floor for a full vote if the majority leader votes with the prevailing side, then moves for a reconsideration of the exact same resolution.)
Schumer alluded to the challenges of ERA passage: “As you know, things don’t come easy in Washington.”
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