The Equal Rights Amendment May Pass Now. It’s Only Been 96 Years.

“It’s been extended by Congress, so if you can extend it, you can certainly strike it,” said Representative Jackie Speier of California, the lead sponsor of a bipartisan House resolution to repeal the deadline.

But whether or not the deadline is legitimate, there is a good chance Congress will get rid of it.

The Democratic-led House held a hearing in April on the resolution, which has 215 co-sponsors. The next step is a House Judiciary Committee markup, which Ms. Speier said would happen in the next two weeks. She said a full House vote was likely before the end of the year.

What the Republican-led Senate will do is less certain: As he has done with many pieces of legislation, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, could refuse to allow a vote. His office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, who is the primary sponsor of the Senate resolution, said he believed the amendment — currently before the Judiciary Committee — had enough votes to pass if brought to the floor. Two Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, are co-sponsoring it.

Jessica Neuwirth, a founder and co-president of the E.R.A. Coalition, argued that ratification in Virginia would make inaction politically untenable.

“At that point,” Ms. Neuwirth said, “what you have is Congress almost standing in the way of the states’ clear and explicit intention to ratify the E.R.A.”

What happens next?

Legal experts disagree on whether Congress has the authority to remove the deadline — or, if it does, whether its removal can apply retroactively. In other words, if Virginia ratifies the E.R.A. before Congress passes the deadline legislation, does it count?