Alex Wong/Getty Images congress New rift exposed as Democrats clash over minimum wage

Several red-state Democrats have threatened to oppose their party’s hallmark $15 minimum wage bill, imperiling a key plank of the progressive platform and revealing another schism in the sprawling caucus.

In a closed-door meeting Tuesday, tensions broke out as some House moderates pushed back against the chief policy proposal from House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott — an issue that has been central to the party’s agenda for decades.


Democrats are broadly united on raising the minimum wage. Still, the clash exposes an ideological divide in the Democratic caucus, which is being pulled to the left by high-profile progressives while many of its members — particularly freshmen who helped deliver the House — represent states where the GOP has long dominated.

And the resistance on a bill like minimum wage, which is widely backed by the Democratic caucus, shows the tough path forward ahead for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her deputies as they attempt to bring their ambitious policy agenda to the floor.

Scott spent an hour attempting to sell his bill to members of the New Democrats Coalition, an expansive policy-focused group that includes dozens of moderates but also some progressives.

Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

But several Democratic lawmakers who attended the meeting said they left dissatisfied with Scott’s presentation and convinced that he actually cost the bill more votes than he gained.

In the meeting, several swing-state freshmen, including Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Colin Allred (D-Texas), stood up to express concerns about the bill, with some suggesting they wouldn’t support it on the floor in its current form. Other members, including freshmen, expressed unease about signing on a cosponsor of the legislation, according to multiple members in the room.

And Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, bluntly told Scott that a number of members in his group would not support the current bill on the floor.

One lawmaker, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said he was “deeply concerned” about whether Scott could pass the bill on the floor. Not only would a number of Blue Dogs likely vote against the proposal, as Schrader said, but the universal minimum wage idea divides the New Dem Coalition as well.

But a spokesman for Scott said he was committed to building more support for the bill, which was passed out of committee earlier this month. Senior Democrats have said privately the legislation is unlikely to come to the floor until it's guaranteed to pass. The last thing Democrats want is a messy floor fight on an issue that, in its broadest form, unites the party.

"Chairman Scott will continue to work with his colleagues to advance this key Democratic priority, which will give nearly 40 million workers a raise," said committee spokesman Josh Weisz, noting that 69 New Democrats are already cosponsors of the bill.

One of those supporters is Rep. Derek Kilmer, the chairman of New Democrats.

“The really good news out of the meeting is that there’s unity around increasing the minimum wage,” the Washington State Democrat said in an interview. “There’s even unity, I think, about getting to $15 at some point. There was debate and discussion about the time frame for that, and whether regional concerns ought to be taken into consideration, but I think that’s healthy part of the process.

Democrats in the pro-business group who come from high-cost living areas are eager to support the idea. That includes Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), one of the lead cosponsors of the bill, who is part of the New Democrats group and is a co-chair of the Blue Dogs Coalition.

But the group also has a number of lawmakers from moderate and Republican-leaning districts who are worried about losing their seat if they support this idea and other liberal priorities. More than 80 percent of the freshmen who won Republican seats in the fall are in New Democrats.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who helped Democrats capture a GOP seat in Pennsylvania, said in the meeting that she felt unease about signing onto the bill, which had become more divisive within the caucus. In a statement, Houlahan said she was "proud to co-sponsor the bill," and added," I have also long supported a regional living wage."

Debates on the minimum wage have long split along rural and more urban areas.

“Fifteen dollars may be right for California where I live and I’m fine with it. But it’s not right for Perry County, Alabama,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.). “A lot of the big companies would be able to handle this but a lot of small companies would be adversely affected.”

Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell is expected to introduce her own minimum wage bill later this week that accounts for regional differences. Peters gave a presentation about Sewell’s bill — which is backed by many New Democrats — at the meeting because the Alabama Democrat had a prior commitment and had to leave early.

The policy proposal faces an uphill climb, however: The Education and Labor Committee recently rejected language that would have approved a study of the regional wage.

Scott countered during the meeting, according to multiple sources, that a tiered minimum wage bill would adversely affect people of color in several states.

But several lawmakers said Scott seemed to have complete disregard for their concerns – one member even called him “tone-deaf” – about the impact the universal wage bill would have on small businesses and how a proposal like Sewell’s could alleviate those.

“He did not pick up any votes in that meeting,” said another Democratic lawmaker on background, adding that Scott was “ill-prepared” for the backlash he received.

Democrats said they don’t think Scott – who comes from a solidly Democratic district and is unlikely to face a competitive challenge – doesn’t understand the concerns of vulnerable members who worry about losing their seats over such votes.

“I don’t think he is accustomed to dissenting points of view, let alone views that fundamentally challenge the principles of his legislation,” said one Democrat.

Rep. Donald Norcross, who watched his home state of New Jersey battle before ultimately approving a $15-an-hour minimum wage, said he spoke up during the meeting to underscore the history-making moment for Democrats: Congress hasn't voted to raise the federal wage since 2007.

"Virtually everybody in that room agreed that we need to raise the wage," Norcross said in an interview. "It was about how, and how much."