Republicans in the U.S. Senate defeated an effort to raise the federal minimum wage on April 5. As Senators prepared to vote on a budget bill funding the government, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) introduced an amendment to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour. Congress has not passed a federal minimum wage increase since 2007 and it has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Twenty-nine states now have higher minimum wage laws. But the federal minimum wage is the minimum wage in the other 21 states, which include Idaho, several Great Plains and Midwest states, and most of the South. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that 22.7 million workers earn the federal minimum wage.
The vote on Sanders’ amendment was 47 in favor, and 52 opposed.
Josh Hawley of Missouri was the only Republican in favor of increasing the minimum wage, joining Sanders and all Democrats except Patty Murray of Washington, who was absent.
But a few Democrats may have been voting to score partisan points. Back in 2021 Sanders forced an on-the-record vote on raising the minimum to $15 — when Democrats had at 50-50 majority. It failed 42-58. Four senators who voted for the increase this year voted no back then, when it had a chance of passage: Coons (D-DE), Hassan (D-NH), King (I-ME), and Shaheen (D-NH). Four others who voted no are no longer in office: Carper (D-DE), Manchin (D-WV), Sinema (D-AZ), and Tester (D-MT).
Increasing the minimum wage has overwhelming support among the public. An April 2024 poll found 86% of likely voters support an increase, including 89% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans. Even to $17 an hour? The poll found that 64% of voters supported increasing it to that level.
Meanwhile, the Senate itself has long been known as a millionaire’s club. It’s not so much because of their public salary of $174,000 a year, which is more than double the U.S. average, but because many are wealthy when they come into office.
