Sanders Plans to Defy Parliamentarian and Force Vote on $15 Minimum Wage

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill examining wages at large profitable corporations in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Monday that the Democrats should defy a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian and vowed to force a vote on to add the $15 minimum wage mandate back into the pandemic relief bill.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough had ruled last week that the $15 minimum wage provision could not be enacted through the budget reconciliation process, which the Democrats are using to push through the gargantuan $1.9 trillion relief package without the support of any Republicans.