President Joe Biden delivers a foreign policy speech during a visit to the State Department in Washington, Feb. 4, 2021.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
President Joe Biden said this weekend that a $ 15 federal minimum wage provision is unlikely to make it to the next Covid-19 aid package, interrupting a major campaign promise as Democrats in Congress continue to pass on $ 1.9 trillion in stimulus packages without Republican backing.
Biden said his government would push for an independent bill to raise the minimum wage.
“I put it in, but I don’t think it will survive,” Biden told CBS ‘Norah O’Donnell in an interview that would air in full on Sunday. “I guess it won’t be there [the stimulus bill]. “
Democrats in Congress have switched to pass the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package without Republican backing in the Senate through a parliamentary process known as reconciliation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said Friday that the lower house is aiming to pass the package of tax measures within two weeks.
The budget resolution mandates committees to write legislation that reflects Biden’s Covid aid package while staying below the $ 1.9 trillion target. Democrats plan to adopt amenities such as $ 1,400 direct payments, $ 400 weekly unemployment benefits through September, $ 350 billion in aid from state, local and tribal governments, a $ 20 billion national Covid vaccination program, and $ 50 billion for virus testing.
The bill also likely includes $ 170 billion for elementary and higher education institutions and $ 30 billion for rent and utility assistance.
Republicans are against including a pay rise in the Covid-19 aid package, warning that it could put additional pressure on companies already grappling with the pandemic’s economic impact. And West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin is also against the pay rise, meaning Democrats wouldn’t have the votes to approve it, even with a simple majority under reconciliation.
While Biden said the $ 15-an-hour wage provision is unlikely to make it in the Covid waiver law, he pledged to prioritize passing the pay rise in separate legislation.
“As President of the United States, I am prepared for a separate minimum wage negotiation to work my way up from what it is today,” said Biden. “Nobody should work and live 40 hours a week for the poverty wage and you earn less than $ 15 an hour, you live below the poverty wage.”
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