He sat down with Republican and Democratic elected officials in the Oval Office last Friday to plead for his $ 1.9 billion Covid relief package, but he did not hide his skepticism.
“It does not look like we can do that,” he said of the minimum wage increase.
For weeks now, the White House has been trying to advance expectations about the feasibility of a minimum wage provision of $ 15 per hour through a broader “rescue package”. Biden first suggested that it would not make the final bill on the Covid relief in an interview with CBS before the Super Bowl, noting that he believes the Senate MP would rule that it does not comply with budgetary rules which can pass a bill with just 51. votes in the Senate.
His comments push back of fellow Democrats, who argued that raising the minimum wage is not only necessary for an economically troubled country, but that it is also a sound policy. They urged the White House to find ways to reconcile it, to make party members skeptical of a significant minimum wage increase to get on board and consider the procedural core option to dominate the party – with Vice President Kamala Harris as ballot paper – dominating the MP.
“Given the composition of the Senate, this is our best opportunity and the right moment in the midst of this pandemic to increase millions of workers for a long time,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), The progressive caucus president. , said on Thursday in a press call with reporters.
Biden’s proposal to mayors and governors, that they start preparing in the Covid bill for the absence of a minimum wage increase, suggests what has been hinted at elsewhere: he is reluctant to introduce such strong-arm options.
“President Biden has been consistent in his private and public relations over his commitment to increase the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, so he included it in his first major piece of legislation,” White House spokesman Mike Gwin said. “The commitment will remain steadfast, whether it can be done through reconciliation.”
The meeting with state and local leaders included an extensive discussion with Biden, which touched on everything from municipal aid to the importance of reopening schools, with Biden shares concerns about how shutters classrooms affect working mothers. But some in the chamber have insisted on pushing back its proposal to include the higher, $ 15 minimum wage in the $ 1.9 billion aid package.
Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland, one of the four Republicans at the meeting, stressed to Biden and the group that he did not think the wage increase was directly related to the immediate problems caused by the pandemic, according to two of the sources. Biden did not return to Hogan’s point at the time. There was also no lengthy discussion about the minimum wage. The conversation simply went on.
Hogan also asked Biden to help ensure the package is as dual as he could, a point another official in the chamber said the president appears to be receptive to.
“I really need your help with this,” Biden told the group. “It must be twofold.”
Democratic participants in the meeting included the Government of New York, Andrew Cuomo, the Government of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, the Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Mayor of New Orleans, Latoya Cantrell, and the Mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, included. The Republicans were Hogan, Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, Arlington, Jeff. Mayor of Texas, and the Government of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson.
Heather Caygle contributed to this report.