WASHINGTON – Democrats suffered a critical defeat in their attempt to preserve President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday after the main enforcer of the Senate rule said that a plan to raise the federal minimum wage could not proceed as part of it, effectively overturning a crucial piece of his progressive-backed plan.
Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, told senators and officials that the provision, which would gradually increase wages to $ 15 an hour by 2025, violated strict budget rules that limit what can be included in the package, two advisers said at Thursday. The advisers released the decision on condition of anonymity, as they were not allowed to comment on it.
The House is expected to vote on the $ 1.9 trillion package as early as Friday, with the salary increase included, and it was unclear whether the decision would change its plans. But it gave Republicans reason to dismiss the clause when the Senate considered the stimulus measure soon after, in a quick process known as budgetary reconciliation, which protects it from obstruction, allowing it to pass without Republican support.
Democrats are working to get the pandemic aid package approved before mid-March, when federal unemployment benefits begin to expire. Doing this through reconciliation guarantees speed, but it also comes with strict rules that aim to prevent the process from being abused by policy initiatives that have no direct effect on the federal budget.
Republicans argued that the increase in the minimum wage advocated by Biden and the Senate’s top Democrats was a major abuse, in part because it had a “purely incidental” effect on the budget. Mrs. MacDonough, the Senate proceeding judge, agreed, determining that it violated the so-called Byrd Rule, named in honor of former Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia and a master of procedural tactics.
The fate of the provision has long been tenuous in the Senate, mainly because two moderates, Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have publicly said they do not support such a large increase in the federal minimum wage.
Although the majority follow the parliamentarian’s advice, Democrats can also try to override their guidance by forcing a vote and effectively insisting on including the salary increase in the legislation anyway. Before the decision, the top Democrats signaled that they would not support such an unusual measure, and it was unclear whether they could muster a majority to do so.