Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour on Tuesday. The “Higher Wages for American Workers Act,” co-sponsored by Senator Peter Welch (D., Vt.), would, in 2026, more than double the current minimum wage and implement annual increases to match inflation.

This move positions Hawley well outside the conservative orthodoxy, which has historically rejected attempts to artificially increase wages, particularly at the federal level. This is because it’s a bad idea.

The federal minimum wage operates under the faulty theory that all labor markets across the country are the same. Currently, 40 states have a minimum wage below $15. The labor markets in Utah and Alabama, where the minimum wage is $7.25, would have a much tougher time adapting to this federal wage than would states with a higher minimum wage. 

While some employees would earn higher wages as a result, artificially raising the cost of labor would come at the expense of others who would be laid off. This hike could also speed up automation, as a way for businesses to cut costs elsewhere.

In California, for example, repeated minimum wage increases have resulted in thousands of fast food workers being fired, food prices increasing, and restaurants closing.

A minimum wage is a price control designed to raise wages through distortions. Hawley used to recognize the impact on small businesses. In a previous bill, he proposed a $15 minimum wage only for corporations with $1 billion or more in revenue. At the time, his office said this was to avoid “a one-size-fits-all increase that would disadvantage small businesses.”

Luckily, this bill is unlikely to gain steam among Republicans in Congress. Moreover, while President Trump has signaled some willingness to raise the minimum wage, he cited the disastrous consequences of hiking it in California as something to be avoided.

Advocating for policies once exclusively championed by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has become a pattern for Hawley. He recently partnered with Bernie Sanders on legislation to cap credit card interest rates, fought right-to-work legislation, and has cozied up with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. Hawley’s office responded to a request for comment from National Review, asking if a $15 minimum wage was a conservative position, with links to previous statements.

Among them, Hawley told CBS, “For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hard-working Americans every day. This bipartisan legislation would ensure that workers across America benefit from higher wages.” 

While this response could just as easily have come from any Senate Democrat, Hawley’s comment to the Daily Signal is far more interesting: “The woke corporations have been eager to raise prices on everybody and employ as many illegals as possible—but they don’t want to pay Americans a good wage. That should change. If they can afford to pay their CEOs millions, they can afford to pay hard-working Americans a decent wage.”

Here, Hawley is using right-coded language, such as calling corporations “woke,” to defend a left-wing position. He seems to believe that compromising with progressives on economics while fighting for socially conservative values could be a viable political strategy. 

Republicans have been able to effectively neutralize the minimum wage as a federal issue by not raising it in more than 15 years. This could have been a conservative policy victory, but instead, Hawley chose to revive an old problem. Conservatives should reject the effort. As Margaret Thatcher once said, “Nothing would be more foolish than for conservatives to seek refuge in aping our opponents’ policies, rhetoric — or Heaven forbid — even identity.”