Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) backed a Republican amendment blocking the raising of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour during the pandemic in Thursday’s late-night Senate “vote-a-rama” session, which involved consideration of multiple amendments to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill.
Following the nearly 15-hour long marathon session, the Senate approved a budget resolution early Friday morning, a preliminary step to budget reconciliation—the process that will allow Senate Democrats to pass the relief bill by a simple majority, rather than a 60-vote supermajority, which would require some GOP buy-in.
