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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) intends to introduce legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The bill, called the “Higher Wages for American Workers Act,” would raise the federal standard to match inflation.
“For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hard-working Americans every day,” Hawley told CBS News.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
“We’re in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries,” Welch told the outlet.
Conservative Sen. Josh Hawley wants to raise federal minimum wage – CBS News https://t.co/xtdT3SWowr
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 10, 2025
CBS News reports:
The federal minimum wage currently sits at $7.25 per hour and has not risen since 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The move by Hawley puts him at odds with conservative party orthodoxy, which has traditionally opposed a federal minimum wage increase on the grounds that it would be costly for businesses and ultimately, for consumers. But Hawley’s pitch is reflective of the party’s realignment in the Trump era, where the president’s brand of populism has fueled a shift among working-class voters away from Democrats and towards Republicans.
Hawley has been pushing Republicans to embrace this shift. The minimum wage legislation is part of a broader, aspirational package of legislative proposals he dubbed the “Pro-Worker Framework for the 119th Congress.” This includes a proposal to help strengthen protections for union jobs, as well as for organizing and collective bargaining.
Hawley faced some pushback for the bipartisan legislation.
“This proposal would more than double the minimum wage and slash over 800,000 jobs,” Employment Policies Institute Research Director Rebekah Paxton said, according to The Hill.
“An overwhelming majority of economists agree that drastic minimum wage hikes cut employment, limit opportunities for workers and shutter businesses,” Paxton added.
🚨Just in: Missouri GOP Senator Josh Hawley has introduced bipartisan legislation to officially raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in America pic.twitter.com/s4RiCechIV
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) June 10, 2025
More from The Hill:
The increase would take effect next year, when Hawley’s home state hikes its rate to the same level.
Most states, like Missouri, have set minimum hourly wage levels above the $7.25 federal rate, and nearly a dozen of them will have minimum rates at or above $15 an hour after increases take effect this year.
Five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee — have never set their own rates, and three — Georgia, Oklahoma and Wyoming — have state minimums below $7.25 per hour. Those eight states all default to the federal rate.