Washington DC - A resolution for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) failed to pass in the Senate and Sen. Chuck Schumer switched his vote at the last minute for a strategic reason.

The Senate failed to meet the 60-vote requirement to advance a resolution that looks to remove the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the US Constitution.

The resolution failed in a 51-47 vote on Thursday, and Sen. Chuck Schumer changed his yea vote to a nay so that he can file a motion to reconsider at a later time.

Though it had two Republicans as co-sponsors – Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins – the majority of GOP senators opposed the resolution.

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Following the vote, Rep. Cori Bush, one of many advocates of the ERA and co-founder of the Equal Rights Amendment Caucus addressed the crowd in DC: "Equality is overdue, but not all Senators agree. Many, who are not Dems, voted against the ERA today. By voting against the Equal Rights Amendment, they are saying they don't care about reducing the alarming rates of violence against women – shut up and take it."

She continued, "They don't care because for them, they often are the benefactors of inequality."

Though supporters of the ERA argue that the amendment would ban discrimination on the basis of sex and guarantee equality for all as a constitutional right, Republicans continue to claim that the ERA is unnecessary because the 14th amendment provides equal protections for women.

On Tuesday, Sen. Schumer defended the ERA: "Anyone who thinks the ERA isn't necessary at a time like this isn't paying attention to the terrible things happening in this country," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "We need the ERA more than ever, ever before."

Schumer also pointed to the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 as yet another reason to pass the ERA: "In 2023, we should move forward to ratify the ERA with all due haste, because if you look at the terrible things happening to women’s rights in this country … women in America have far fewer rights today than they did even year ago."

The Equal Rights Amendment has already been ratified by 38 states, which meets the required three-fourths needed for the amendment to be approved.

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However, some states adopted the measure after the congressionally mandated deadline, such as Nevada and Illinois, calling into question whether the ratification was valid, leading to others pulling back support of the ERA.

The resolution that failed to pass the Senate on Thursday would've waived the previously set deadline, allowing the ERA to be adopted should Congress ever pass the measure, which would then send it to President Joe Biden's desk for signing.