Today, we're going to talk about the failure to pass a $15 minimum wage, the success of

passing the COVID relief package, and Republicans' very, very important priority of Dr. Seuss.

I also interview Congressman Rokana about the $15 minimum wage and eliminating the

filibuster.

I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie.

So we had two major pieces of news this week, one really good and one pretty awful, so

we'll start with a bad and end on a high note.

And that is that the $15 minimum wage didn't make it into the final COVID relief package.

The Senate parliamentarian had ruled that the minimum wage hike didn't comply with budget

reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority to pass, and so instead it would need

to pass as a regular bill and to reach a 60 vote threshold.

But the issue is that the parliamentarian's ruling here isn't binding, it's an advisory

opinion, and the vice president has the power to overrule her if she wanted to, which has

already happened before.

It happened in 1975 when then vice president Nelson Rockefeller ignored the advice of

the parliamentarian as the Senate debated the filibuster rules.

It happened in 2013 when Democrats eliminated the filibuster to approve presidential

nominees that were being blocked by Republicans, and it happened in 2017 when Republicans further

eroded the filibuster to approve Supreme Court nominees.

Parliamentarians have even been outright removed before.

In 2001, the Senate was also split 50-50, Republicans were trying to pass, what else,

what tax cuts through Congress using budget reconciliation, the parliamentarian ruled

...