Senate Waits for Ruling From Parliamentarian

“Capitol Hill waited Thursday for the Senate parliamentarian to weigh in on whether the chamber’s rules would permit Democrats to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the chief Senate parliamentarian, will set the stage for an intense debate among Democrats about how to proceed on the contentious provision. Democrats, who cannot afford to lose a single vote among their own ranks to pass the bill in an evenly divided Senate, have split over the push to raise the federal minimum wage, which would boost it to $15 an hour over four years.”