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Eight Senate Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in rejecting an amendment to include a $15 minimum wage in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package on Friday afternoon, issuing a serious blow to progressives who have been fighting to increase the federal pay floor for the first time since 2009.
Vermont Sen, Bernie Sanders introduced the amendment after the Senate parliamentarian said that raising the minimum wage from $7.25 could not be done through reconciliation, a process that will allow Democrats to pass their relief bill in the Senate through a simple majority and without Republican support. His amendment would have included it in the bill anyway.
The amendment was a tough sell to begin with, especially in a split Senate, but progressives were surprised and dismayed that seven Democrats (and one independent who caucuses with democrats) voted against the bill.
Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Angus King (I-Maine.) all voted to sustain a procedural objection against including the wage increase in the relief package, signifying a large crack in what was once a united Democratic front.
The votes were not entirely expected—until Friday afternoon Manchin was the only Democrat to openly oppose a $15 minimum wage. He instead supports raising the standard to $11 an hour and indexing it to inflation.
The votes also come as 2022 midterm races begin to heat up, giving Republicans fodder for attack ads and progressives a reason to primary some of their more moderate colleagues.
No Excuses, a progressive political action committee which pushes Democrats to keep campaign promises, wasted no time in releasing radio ads in Arizona about Sinema’s vote.
Sinema, who was spotted arriving at the Capitol holding a large chocolate cake on Friday morning, appeared to dance around while voting against the amendment and gave a cheeky thumbs down to indicate her stance, causing many critics to say that she wasn’t taking the fight for a living wage seriously.
“Politicians being awful rarely shocks me,” said the ad’s narrator. “That’s why I was shocked to see our Sen. Kyrsten Sinema walk on the floor of the Senate with a chocolate cake to vote no on the $15 an hour minimum wage. I was genuinely shocked to see her dancing when she voted no. I was also genuinely shocked to see her do it with a thumbs down, I guess making fun of our former Senator John McCain? She seems to have no shame, and without our votes, she’ll have no job.”
The 30 second spot will air on more than 100 radio stations next week, and the PAC is raising money to fund a television ad.
Sinema, like many Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris, had made the fight for a living wage an integral part of their campaigns. These negative votes could backfire.
Still, Sinema said her vote was about procedure, not the minimum wage. “Senators in both parties have shown support for raising the federal minimum wage and the Senate should hold an open debate and amendment process on raising the minimum wage, separate from the COVID-focused reconciliation bill,” she said.
Sanders, meanwhile, vowed to continue pushing the issue.
“If anybody thinks that we’re giving up on this issue, they are sorely mistaken. If we have to vote on it time and time again, we will and we’re going to succeed,” he said. “The American people understand that we cannot continue to have millions of people working for starvation wages.”
Justice Democrats, a progressive advocacy group, also indicated that they see this as a key issue going into the 2022 election cycle.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris must now present their plan for delivering on their campaign promise of a $15 minimum wage before the midterm election cycle gets underway,” said Waleed Shahid, a spokesperson for the group, in a statement.
