Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shocked Washington by withdrawing support for President Barack Obama's minimum wage proposal on Tuesday, showing that Democrats are getting cold feet following a devastating report that predicted massive job losses if the wage floor were to rise. But while the Democratic leader has withdraw the measure from the Senate calendar, leading liberals in the House of Representatives are preparing an attempt to force a minimum wage vote over the objections of House Speaker John Boehner and conservative Republicans. Raising the minimum wage was expected to be the centerpiece of the Obama administration's 2014 agenda, and White House surrogates planned just a week ago to spend the last days of February arguing in favor of the initiative.
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The majority leader quietly pulled the president's minimum wage bill from the Senate calendar on Tuesday
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Action followed a scathing Congressional Budget Office report predicting the loss of 500,000 jobs if the wage floor rises to $10.10 per hour
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Vulnerable Senate Democrats have shied away from the proposal, choosing to protect their re-election chance in November
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House Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing a 'discharge petition' intended to force Republican leaders to bring a minimum wage hike up for a vote
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The White House has insisted job losses need not follow a wage hike, saying companies can fall back on 'reduced profits' to make up the costs
That measure would force a floor vote if at least 218 of the 435 @placeholder members supported it.