Progressive Democrat Ilhan Omar called for the resignation of the ruler who effectively blocked the party’s plans to raise the minimum wage.
Democratic plans to include a gradual $ 15 trillion increase in Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill were effectively ended on Thursday, when the Senate congressman decided he shouldn’t be part of the package.
The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, who has held the non-partisan post since 2012, dashed hopes of including the increase in the bill – the first increase in more than a decade.
“Abolish obstruction. Replace the parliamentarian ”, Omar said in a tweet. “What is a Democratic majority if we cannot approve our priority projects? This is unacceptable.”
Abolish obstruction.
Replace the parliamentary.
What is a Democratic majority if we cannot approve our priority projects? This is unacceptable.
– Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 26, 2021
Biden campaigned with the promise to raise the minimum wage to $ 15. Low-income workers and unions have been campaigning for an increase since 2012, and his inclusion in the coronavirus stimulus project was seen as a major victory.
Although the proposal faced universal opposition from Republican senators and skepticism from some Democrats, Senator Bernie Sanders and others were confident that it could pass a simple majority in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.
For that, the proposal would have to be approved by means of “budgetary conciliation” – a mechanism that allows the legislation to bypass the 60% of votes necessary to pass in the Senate.
On Thursday night, MacDonough decided that the salary increase did not meet budgetary reconciliation standards.
The parliamentarian acts as an impartial judge and has only been removed from office once. MacDonough is highly respected by many members of both parties, and the Biden government seems unlikely to press for his removal.
Other progressive Democrats have proposed a less drastic solution – to reject it.
“The Senate parliamentarian issues an advisory opinion”, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said in a tweet. “The VP can cancel them – as has been done before. We must do EVERYTHING we can to keep our promise, deliver a minimum wage of $ 15 and give an increase to 27 million workers ”.
Sanders, one of the most fervent advocates of raising the minimum wage, has proposed an alternative plan – imposing penalties and incentives to push companies to higher wages.
“I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to come up with an amendment to remove tax deductions from large, profitable corporations that do not pay workers at least $ 15 an hour, and to provide small businesses with the incentives they need to raise wages” , Sanders said in a statement. “This change must be included in this reconciliation project.”
Sanders’ comments came after a Senate hearing on Thursday, in which he criticized the low wages paid by McDonald’s, Walmart and others. Sanders pointed to a government report that revealed that almost half of workers who earn less than $ 15 an hour depend on public assistance programs that cost taxpayers $ 107 billion each year.
The American people are “tired” of subsidizing “starvation wages” at these companies, Sanders said.