President Trump signaled he was unsure about whether or not he would assist a latest proposal led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to boost the federal minimal wage to $15 per hour.
“I haven’t seen it. I’d have to speak to Josh. He’s a very good friend of mine,” Trump mentioned Wednesday from the Oval Workplace after a reporter requested whether or not he supported the transfer. “That’s interesting that Josh did that. You have to think about that one.”
Alongside Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Hawley launched the Greater Wages for American Employees Act final week.
If handed, the laws would greater than double the present federal minimal wage from $7.25 to $15.00 per hour.
Presently, a minimum of 31 states require companies to pay most employees above the federal minimal wage of $7.25 per hour — together with Hawley’s house state of Missouri.
“Some people agree with it. Some people don’t,” Trump added whereas chatting with reporters from the Resolute Desk. “You know, some people say it really turns away business, restaurants, clothes and a lot of things happen. Other people agree. I’d have to speak to Josh — he’s a good guy.”
Hawley has framed the elevate to the minimal wage as “a populist position.”
“If we’re going to be a working people’s party, we have to do something for working people,” the senator instructed NBC Information after the invoice was launched final week. “And working people haven’t gotten a raise in years. So they need a raise.”
Hawley’s considerably stunning transfer to assist a rise to the federal minimal wage follows different strikes he has made in an effort to push an financial populist agenda.
Hawley partnered with progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in February to introduce laws that seeks to cap bank card rates of interest at 10%.
On Tuesday, Hawley voted alongside progressives like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders and towards the vast majority of Republicans when he declined to assist laws that imposes rules on the cryptocurrency market, which critics concern will profit institutional gamers at the price of smaller buyers.
Hawley’s workplace declined to remark for this story.
