Other lawmakers, including some Republicans, have argued that the pandemic aid package should be scaled back, with things like the minimum wage to be left for another legislative battle later this year. Most House Republicans voted against a standalone minimum wage in 2019, pointing to a report from the Congressional Budget Office that would put an estimated 1.3 million Americans out of work. Senate Republicans, who were in control of the chamber, did not record it.
“That’s an agenda item for the government, so be it,” Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters. Should it be included as part of a Covid aid package? I think it takes the focus away from the priority, which is the immediate need today. “
“Hey,” she added, “you get the keys to the car now. So let’s draft some legislation, but you don’t have to think you need to get everything in one package. “
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham bluntly told reporters in January that “we don’t pay a minimum wage of $ 15 in it” and that Mr. Biden was better off reaching out to Capitol Hill and compromising.
Mr. Sanders and the Democrats have argued that, with unemployment benefits beginning to expire in mid-March, there is little time to convince their Republican counterparts, who began similarly sweeping tax reforms in 2017.
But to secure the first hike in the federal minimum wage since 2009, Mr. Sanders and Liberal Democrats, even under reconciliation, afford to lose little or no support from the rest of the caucus.
Several lawmakers, including Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, have expressed skepticism that the minimum wage can override the rules of the reconciliation process, which imposes strict parameters to prevent the process from being abused. Under the so-called Byrd Rule, Democrats cannot take measures that affect the Social Security program, increase the deficit after a period of time set in the budget resolution, or that do not change revenue or expenditure.