Posted on 06/10/2025 8:12:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour — a position that aligns one of the most conservative Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill with some of the most liberal members of Congress.
The legislation, called the "Higher Wages for American Workers Act," would raise the federal standard starting in 2026 and would also call for an increase in subsequent years to match inflation, CBS News has exclusively learned. Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch has signed on as a co-sponsor.
"For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hard-working Americans every day," Hawley said in a statement to CBS News. "This bipartisan legislation would ensure that workers across America benefit from higher wages."
"We're in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries," Welch said in a statement to CBS. "A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire. Every hard-working American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table — $7.25 an hour doesn't even come close."
The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 per hour and has not risen since 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The move by Hawley puts him at odds with conservative party orthodoxy, which has traditionally opposed a federal minimum wage increase on the grounds that it would be costly for businesses and ultimately, for consumers. But Hawley's pitch is reflective of the party's realignment in the Trump era, where the president's brand of populism has fueled a shift among working-class voters away from Democrats and towards Republicans.
Hawley has been pushing Republicans to embrace this shift. The minimum wage legislation is part of a broader, aspirational package of legislative proposals he dubbed the "Pro-Worker Framework for the 119th Congress." This includes a proposal to help strengthen protections for union jobs, as well as for organizing and collective bargaining.
Sen. Josh Hawley Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) speaks to the press on June 2, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images Earlier this year, he teamed up with Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. And in the last Congress, he introduced legislation that would require companies with revenues of $1 billion or more to pay their employees at least $15 per hour. In recent weeks, Hawley has been urging his party against cuts to Medicaid benefits in the budget reconciliation bill.
In November, voters in Hawley's home state of Missouri approved a ballot measure to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour, starting in 2026. But the Legislature repealed part of the law that would allow later increases to adjust for inflation.
Earlier this year, President Trump rescinded a Biden-era executive order that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $17.75 per hour. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he does not support raising the federal minimum wage, arguing that it is a decision best left up to the states.
What’s next from him, amnesty for illegal aliens?
As a practical matter, a 7.25 minimum wage is sort of embarrassing. Whether it needs to be 15, that’s debatable. Raising it to 9 or 10 might be a politically palatable compromise, good campaign food for the midterms.
He’s compromised. He also doesn’t want to take Medicaid away from illegals.
GOPe … doing their part to oppose the American public and Trump.
This weasel knows this wage is an automatic raise for every Democrat union group and replaces lost grift from USAID.
You can’t people more than they produce. Some aren’t producing $4 of labor per hour.
My adult daughter is trying to get an entry level job. She has no experience, is having trouble getting one, and the high-minimum wage in Arizona does not help.
there should be no minimum wage ... at all ...
In California, perhaps the minimum wage should be $20 but in Mississippi, $9.
My first real job with a paycheck, at age 16, was as a janitor in a restaurant...................
How about eliminating it?
No kidding. Its this, then being a wall street hoor and anticrypto. No different from liz warren.
Zactly.
What’s wrong with that boy?
Sadly, I guess he hasn’t learned that minimum wage rise results in everything rising around that mandated rise.
“As a practical matter, a 7.25 minimum wage is sort of embarrassing...”
I don’t think it is at al embarrassing. It should be $0.
I didn't like how Josh Hawley answered questions when they decided to ban TikTok. He sounded like a Democrat to me. With his phrasing and tone while he was speaking in Congress.
The only reason he's a Republican is because it's politically expedient for him to be a member of the party since he lives in Missouri.
If he was living in Georgia or Arizona, he would probably be a Democrat.
In fact, the minimum wage is $0.00.
Please allow me to throw a little gas on this fire 😁
The article doesn’t address step increases.
Federal Wage employees receive step increases, also known as within-grade increases (WGIs), which are periodic increases in their rate of basic pay, moving from one step to the next within their grade. These increases are based on both performance and longevity (time spent in the current step).
10 steps in a grade, the 1st step increase occurs at 6 months IIRC, and then every 12 months after.
He must have some skeletons in his closet that the Deep State has found.................
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