Pelosi celebrates 'historic day' as House passes doomed $15 federal minimum wage bill

Nancy Pelosi at a news conference prior to a vote on the Raise the Wage Act.

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 18 July 2019

The House of Representatives has just passed a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The legislation, which would raise the federal minimum wage for the first time since 2009 from $7.25 to $15 by 2025, passed on Thursday in a 231-199 vote, The Washington Post reports. The vote mostly occurred across party lines, with three Republicans supporting it.

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Republicans opposed the bill, saying it would result in the loss of jobs; a recent Congressional Budget Office report said the legislation would increase wages for up to 27 million people but result in 1.3 million jobs being lost, The New York Times reports. The bill is not expected to advance further. "This would depress the economy at a time of economic boom," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Thursday, per Reuters. "We're not going to be doing that in the Senate."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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