Democrats have set their sights on federal minimum wage laws to beef up the party’s platform ahead of the 2028 presidential elections. Just not everyone in the party agrees it needs to be a pillar of how Democrats address affordability.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who has been rumored to be considering a presidential bid, released a bill in June that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2039. Democratic senators told NOTUS that they are now discussing both updating Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vermont) bill to lift the minimum hourly wage to $17 by 2030, and introducing an entirely new bill tackling the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour.
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told NOTUS he would consider legislation to raise the federal minimum wage, as did New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Both senators have also been floated as Democratic presidential contenders.