WHAT’S NEXT

The House

House Democrats were preparing to advance the $1.9 trillion relief bill by the end of the week.

“I expect that the House Democratic Caucus is going to strongly support the American Rescue Plan. We remain hopeful that the $15 minimum wage increase, which takes place gradually over a period of four years, will be made in order,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

The relief bill, which is Biden’s first major legislative initiative, is looking unlikely to receive any Republican support. House Republican leaders have slammed it as a “$1.9 trillion liberal wish-list filled with extraneous provisions” such as the minimum wage increase and a “bailout” to blue states such as California.

The Senate

The proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage increase cannot remain in the coronavirus relief bill in the Senate, the chamber’s parliamentarian said Thursday.

The guidance from the parliamentarian, Elizabeth Macdonough, could be a major setback for Democrats hoping to use the relief bill as the vehicle for their long-sought goal of raising the federal minimum wage.

The next steps are not clear. Her ruling pertains only to the Senate.

Two Senate Democrats — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — also have indicated they oppose it. Manchin has suggested he would like to amend the bill to bring the minimum wage increase down to $11 an hour.