«It is an issue that the president remains committed to…That’s why he put it in his package,» White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
The White House reaffirmed President Joe Biden’s commitment to raising the federal minimum wage after several attempts to include a gradual increase to $15 an hour in the COVID relief package fell apart. «It is an issue that the president remains committed to. He wants the minimum wage to be raised. That’s why he put it in his package,» White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Monday. Biden’s $1.9 trillion «American Rescue Plan»—which also includes a third round of stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits and funding for school reopenings and vaccinations, among other measures—was recently passed by the House of Representatives. But the minimum wage proposal hit a wall in the Senate due to budget reconciliation, a process being used to pass the legislation through a simple majority vote.
