Democrat lawmakers’ support for the raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour proves they’re “dead set on erasing the progress our economy has made since President Donald Trump took office,” House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy says.
In commentary posted in the Daily Signal on Wednesday, the California lawmaker argued the Raise the Wage Act would bring the nation’s economic growth to a screeching halt.
“Since January 2017, 5.6 million jobs have been created with the help of Republican-led tax reform, deregulation, and other pro-growth reforms,” he wrote, adding: “Our nation is in the midst of enjoying the best economy we have seen in a generation.”
Bur he warned the progress “can, and will, be overturned if Congress tries to control the economy from within its bubble in Washington, D.C., as Democrats are attempting to do today.”
He called the legislation, which would hike the minimum wage twice as high as its current amount, “another misguided attempt by Democrats to impose one-size-fits-all policy on the American people.”
“It is backward-looking and proves that Democrats are dead set on erasing the progress our economy has made since President Donald Trump took office,” he wrote.
McCarthy cited the Congressional Budget Office’s recent study that indicates a $15 minimum wage could result in the loss of as many as 3.7 million jobs and that about 42% of families with a minimum-wage earner would see a net reduction to their family income.
“The same Congressional Budget Office report estimates that total real family income could be reduced by $9 billion,” he noted.
“History tells us that heavy-handed Washington policies, for all the good intentions of their advocates, only limit opportunities for the individuals who need them most,” he wrote.
“The most effective way to continue to unleash our country’s economic potential is by keeping Washington bureaucrats out of Americans’ paychecks,” he added.
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