Democratic Party platform calls for $15 federal minimum wage
Republican lawmakers have blocked any increase in the $7.25 minimum wage since 2009.

On Aug. 19, delegates to the Democratic National Convention approved a party platform that calls for a federal minimum wage of at least $15 an hour.
When a reporter asked Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance at an event in Philadelphia that same day about what the Trump-Vance ticket believes the minimum wage should be, Vance did not answer the question.
“Well, look, President Trump believes very strongly that the best way to promote raising Americans’ wages is with tight labor markets,” Vance said. “When an employer has got to pay a good wage to attract the right people — and you know the way that you destroy — whether you have a higher minimum wage or lower minimum wage, the way to destroy the wages of American workers is to import 20 million illegal aliens and let them stay here with work visas.”
The federal minimum hourly wage has been frozen at $7.25 since July 2009. At 40 hours a week, a worker at that level would make just $15,000 in a year, which is at the federal poverty guideline for a household of one. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked efforts to raise the wage.
During an October 2020 debate, President Donald Trump said that increasing the minimum wage nationally would harm businesses. “I think it should be a state option. Alabama is different than New York, New York is different from Vermont. Every state is different. It should be a state option.”
According to a 2023 analysis by the progressive Center for American Progress, a $15 minimum wage would benefit about 40 million workers, providing an average annual increase of $6,000 to many of the lowest earners. A February 2023 poll by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy Program for Public Consultation found that 65% of American voters support increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Thanks to a 2022 statewide ballot initiative, Nebraska’s current statewide hourly minimum wage is $12 and is set to gradually increase to $15 by 2026.
In 2019, Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon voted against raising the Raise the Wage Act, which would have gradually raised the national minimum wage to $15.
“Americans will only be harmed by this legislation because it forces businesses to reduce hours and cut payrolls, reducing net family income by almost $9 billion meaning lower income families will come out financially worse,” Bacon said in a press release at the time. “In addition, it makes zero sense to use a one-size fits all approach to minimum wage when cost of living varies by state and city by city. Omaha, Papillion, Gretna and the rural areas of our state should not be treated the same as Los Angeles, Seattle or New York City. Nebraskans should decide if and when they raise the minimum wage, and they recently did that.”
Studies have shown that minimum wage increases result not in fewer jobs but in fewer job vacancies, as well-compensated workers remain in their positions.
Bacon’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
“Donald Trump and JD Vance spend way too much time cozying up to their billionaire buddies and corporate mega donors – guess that’s why they think $7.25 an hour is enough to get by on,” a spokesperson for the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign said in an Aug. 19 press release. “A Trump-Vance administration is a guaranteed disaster for families across the country – with a $3,900 tax hike, higher rent and health care costs and, apparently, no raise for the minimum wage.”