Ayanna Pressley's pushes ERA for women's equity—Brandon Gill points out she won't say what a woman is

During a Tuesday House Oversight hearing, Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley pushed a proposal to enshrine equal rights protections as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, making them the permanent law of the land. Her plan is to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed despite the statute of limitations on getting the amendment ratified having long since passed. Her proposed bill would extend the time frame for ratification after the Supreme Court said the 1970s era amendment proposal could not be ratified as is.

“Now look, y'all, every Democrat in the House has signed on to my bill, but I'm still waiting on my Republican colleagues to join,” she said. “So until we are able to codify gender equality in the Constitution, diversity, equity and inclusion policies have supported women in every aspect of their lives. For example, women have served in the military for more than 200 years, yet Republicans and their anti-diversity campaign have denied multiple women promotions just because they are women, not to mention those who have just been fired. Women get paid less money for doing the same work as men, but since Republicans are anti-equity, the EEOC has weakened enforcement of pay discrimination laws, maintaining and widening our gender pay gap by the day.”

Pressley continued by criticizing the SAVE Act, claiming the legislation would disadvantage women at the polls by requiring additional documents. She argued that married women who have changed their last names could face difficulties proving their eligibility to vote. She also criticized Republicans for enacting pro-life laws around the country. The Massachusetts Democrat further claimed that the Trump administration was withholding data related to DEI policies, particularly regarding federal employee firings.

Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, chairman of the committee, questioned whether Pressley's proposal to extend the Equal Rights Amendment, which she argued was designed to protect women, included a definition of a woman. Pressley did not directly answer the question. Under the Biden administration, the word "woman" was redefined to include men who claim to be women.

Pressley has spent years pushing Congress to recognize the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment, despite ongoing legal questions surrounding its ratification. Republicans have argued that reviving the decades-old amendment without clarifying key terms such as "sex" or "woman" could create uncertainty as courts continue to grapple with disputes over gender identity and sex-based protections.