For more than two years, Democrats in Congress and advocates for women’s rights have demanded that Ferriero formally publish what would be the Twenty-Eighth Amendment, the proposal known for nearly a century as the Equal Rights Amendment. First submitted by the suffragist Alice Paul in the years after women secured the right to vote, the amendment states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” In early 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA and, according to its backers, the final one needed to meet the requirement that constitutional amendments win approval from three-quarters of state legislatures after passage by Congress.

Ferriero, however, has refused to certify the amendment. The archivist instead deferred to an opinion by Donald Trump’s Justice Department that the ERA is invalid because its final ratification came long after a congressionally imposed deadline. In response, a group of states has sued to force Ferriero’s hand. Democrats have also introduced legislative proposals either to remove the deadline for the ERA’s ratification or simply to affirm that it has met the requirements for inclusion in the Constitution.

They might soon get another opportunity. Ferriero has announced that he’s retiring in April, and the Senate will have to approve whomever Biden nominates as his replacement. Some Democrats want to insist, as a requirement for confirmation, that the next archivist commit to publishing the ERA.