Hours after word broke that President Barack Obama plans to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) blasted the decision.
In a Tuesday interview with CNN's "New Day," King said Obama's move to implement the change via executive order is "a constitutional violation."
“We have a minimum wage," King said. "Congress has set it. For the president to simply declare ‘I’m going to change this law that Congress has passed,’ is unconstitutional. He’s outside the bounds of his Article II limitations.”
Obama is expected to make the announcement during Tuesday night's State of the Union address. According to an Obama administration fact sheet released Monday, the executive order would cover “workers who are performing services or constructing buildings and are getting paid less than $10.10 an hour.”
As HuffPost reported Monday evening, the policy stands to affect hundreds of thousands of workers receiving federal paychecks. Those falling under this criteria could include dishwashers, food servers and construction workers who have jobs in federal buildings, but work for private companies.
For King's full interview, head over to CNN.
UPDATE (5:25 p.m. ET): Democratic congressional candidate Jim Mowrer, who is running against King, responded to his comments in a statement.
“Congressman Steve King’s comments reiterate the fact that he does not understand the struggles thousands of Iowa families are going through to make ends meet. In the greatest country the world has ever known, no one who works full time should be living below the poverty line. In Iowa we understand this.”
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