President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he considers the Equal Rights Amendment to have been ratified. His statement “affirm[ed] what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land,

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says at a news conference an hour after President Joe Biden issued a statement of his belief that the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified that the day marks a historic achievement for women and girls as equality becomes enshrined in the Constitution after Biden's recognition of the ERA as law enables millions to challenge discriminatory laws in court.

Did Florida ever ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1972 amendment that declared women equal under the law?

The struggle over the Equal Rights Amendment started more than a century ago when suffragist Alice Paul first proposed it shortly after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Legal scholars say President Joe Biden might be right about the Equal Rights Amendment — but his declaration on Friday has no legal significance. In a surprise move on his way out of office, Biden proclaimed that the amendment has met the requirements for ratification and is now part of the Constitution.

The ERA’s deadline expired decades ago, but the president argues that recent approvals by three states put the amendment over the top.

The Democrat’s statement, coming days before he is replaced by Donald Trump, is unlikely to have any impact. Presidents do not have any role in the amendment process.