8 Democrats Join Republicans in Rejecting Sanders' $15 Minimum Wage Hike Bill

Eight Democratic senators joined Republicans in rejecting raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour over five years after it was proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Angus King (I-Maine)—who caucuses with Democrats—opposed the measure, joining all Republicans in the upper chamber. Coons and Carper are considered two close allies of President Joe Biden, who was formerly a senator from Delaware.

The final vote tally was 42–58, falling far short of the 60 votes needed to overrule the Senate parliamentarian’s decision that a minimum wage increase can’t be embedded in a broader COVID-19 stimulus bill.

Sinema tweeted she supports raising the minimum wage, which was last increased more than a decade ago as she knows “what it is like to face tough choices while working to meet your family’s most basic needs.”

“Senators in both parties have shown support for raising the federal minimum wage and the Senate should hold an open debate and amendment process on raising the minimum wage, separate from the COVID-focused reconciliation bill,” she said.

Manchin, perhaps the most centrist Democrat in the Senate, previously said in an interview with The Hill that he doesn’t support the $15 per hour increase, remarking that he’s open to raising the minimum wage to something that is “responsible and reasonable.” In West Virginia, his home state, he suggested that it should be $11 per hour when adjusted for inflation.

The move drew condemnation from progressive Democrats and Sanders himself. Some called for the eight senators to be primaried.

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Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/SenatorSinema/status/1367875779258949636

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