WASHINGTON — Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has told senators that the federal minimum wage increase President Joe Biden and Democrats have been seeking would violate the chamber's rules for inclusion in a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill.
Two sources familiar with the discussions confirmed the ruling, which emerged after arguments from aides to both parties in closed-door meetings with MacDonough this week.
The decision is a blow to hopes of tacking the long-sought rise in the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 over five years onto the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that's taking shape. While the provision would affect the federal budget significantly, MacDonough deemed the impact "merely incidental" to the underlying policy intent of the wage boost, therefore violating the Senate's "Byrd rule."
The language is currently included in the version the House plans to take up on Friday, but the parliamentary ruling means it will need to be stripped in the Senate or Democrats would have to disregard MacDonough's advice. White House chief of staff Ron Klain told MSNBC on Wednesday night that Democrats were not planning to take that step, however.
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