Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s Thursday ruling against including a $15 an hour federal minimum wage increase in a coronavirus relief bill, stating that he strongly disagrees with the decision.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the senator said that “because of the archaic and undemocratic rules of the Senate, we are unable to move forward to end starvation wages in this country and raise the income of 32 million struggling Americans.”
MacDonough ruled earlier on Thursday that increasing the minimum wage as part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill doesn’t comply with budget rules. In order to move forward with the wage increase, House Democrats would have to remove the language from the bill before it is passed Friday or garner support for the bill in the Senate.
Sanders emphasized that the American people, along with President Biden and Vice President Harris, overwhelmingly support the move to increase the minimum wage.
“I’m confident we have a majority in the United States, including the Vice President that would vote to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of Presdient Biden’s American Rescue Plan,” he wrote.
He also pledged to continue to fight for increased wages.
“In the coming days, I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate to move forward with an amendment to take tax deductions away from large, profitable corporations that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour and to provide small businesses with incentives they need to raise wages,” Sanders wrote. “That amendment must be included in this reconciliation bill.”