Senate Bill Would Raise Minimum Wage To $15/Hour

NBC News reports:

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill with Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, making him a rare congressional Republican to endorse the historically liberal cause. The Higher Wages for American Workers Act would set the nationwide minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1 of the first year after it is enacted, and raise it annually on the basis of inflation.

“This is a populist position,” Hawley told NBC News in the Capitol on Tuesday. “If we’re going to be a working people’s party, we have to do something for working people. And working people haven’t gotten a raise in years. So they need a raise.” The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, and hasn’t been raised since 2009. Democratic presidents and lawmakers have since attempted to lift it, but each time failed to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate.

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Sen. Josh Hawley introduces a bill with Sen. Peter Welch to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, making him a rare congressional Republican to endorse the historically liberal cause. https://t.co/pGjjuj6f8k

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 10, 2025