Did VP Kamala Harris Really Tell a Radio Interviewer She May Ignore $15 Minimum Wage Ruling on Covid Relief Bill?
Vice President Kamala Harris has been under pressure from progressives to ignore the Senate parliamentarian and keep the $15 an hour minimum wage in the Covid relief bill, and a CNN reporter’s account of a recent radio interview makes it sound like she’s considering it. But is she really?
Progressives like Elizabeth Warren to Cenk Uygur is calling on VP Harris to ignore Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s ruling that the $15 an hour minimum wage provision does not meet the requirements for inclusion in a reconciliation bill — the process that would allow the bill to pass with only 50 votes instead of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.
And one tweet from CNN’s DJ Judd sure makes it sound like Harris is considering it.
“VP Kamala Harris, on the Senate parliamentarian ruling on minimum wage, to WBEZ: “We are going to fight for that—we’re not going to give up the fight, even though the parliamentarian said that it can’t stay in our bill, but it is one of my biggest priorities.” (Via @betsy_klein)” Judd wrote.
VP Kamala Harris, on the Senate parliamentarian ruling on minimum wage, to WBEZ: “We are going to fight for that—we’re not going to give up the fight, even though the parliamentarian said that it can’t stay in our bill, but it is one of my biggest priorities.” (Via @betsy_klein)
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) March 4, 2021
The full context of the veep’s interview with WBEZ reporter Natalie Moore is even more tantalizing for the folks pushing for this move.
Moore asked the VP a two-part question that included “will you use your authority as vice president to include a $15 an hour minimum wage in your Covid relief bill?”
“Minimum wage, I mean you’re right to talk about that,” Harris said. “I have been fighting for $15 an hour minimum wage, since the beginning of time it feels like.”
After describing the implications of the current minimum wage on full-time workers, Harris added “We have to increase minimum wage. And we’re going to fight for that, we’re not going to give up the fight even though the parliamentarian said that it can’t stay in our bill. But it is one of my biggest priorities.”
After Harris concluded her response, Moore said “I just want to follow up, given that parliamentarian rule, will you use your authority as vice president to include it in the relief bill anyway?”
“Well listen, we were very disappointed in the parliamentarian ruling, but we are committed to working with Congress to determine the best path forward,” Harris said. “And the bottom line is nobody in our country should work a full day’s work and work 40 hours a week and live in poverty.”
That answer, while not a flat “no,” is still consistent with President Joe Biden’s past statements, that if the parliamentarian ruled against including the provision, the administration would work with Congress to pass the increase in another piece of legislation.
There are at least two Democratic senators — Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — who have publicly indicated they do not support the $15-an-hour minimum wage.
Watch above via WBEZ.
