Economist Paul Krugman advocated raising the minimum wage moderately in 2013 , citing several reasons , including : Democratic candidates , elected officials , and activists support an increase in the minimum wage . In his 2013 State of the Union Address , President Barack Obama called for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 9 an hour ; several months later , Democrats Tom Harkin and George Miller proposed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $ 10.10 ; and in 2015 , congressional Democrats introduced a proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $ 12 an hour . These efforts did not succeed , but increases in city and state minimum wages prompted congressional Democrats to continue fighting for an increase on the federal level . After much internal party debate , the party 's official platform adopted at the 2016 Democratic National Convention stated : " We should raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour over time and index it , give all Americans the ability to join a union regardless of where they work , and create new ways for workers to have power in the economy so every worker can earn at least $ 15 an hour . " Most Republican elected officials oppose action to increase the minimum wage , and have blocked Democratic efforts to increase the minimum wage . Republican leadership such as Speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan have opposed minimum wage increases . Some Republicans oppose having a minimum wage altogether , while a few , conversely , have supported minimum wage increases or indexing the minimum wage to inflation
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
Minimum wage in the United States