WASHINGTON (TND) — Previous presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is calling on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $17.

During a news conference Thursday, Sanders said the Senate HELP Committee will be marking up a bill to raise the minimum wage for the first time since 2009. It is a $2 increase compared to his 2021 proposal.

"Nobody in this country can survive on $7.25. And maybe some of my colleagues in Congress might want to live for a month on seven-and-a-quarter and see what that's like," Sanders said.

Joined by workers, union leaders and an economist, Sanders stated he hopes every member of Congress understands that there will be political consequences.

A Zillow study on rent prices for people making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour found that the average American needs three roommates or almost four full-time jobs to afford a two-bedroom rental.

“Renters have been squeezed by record-fast rent growth while incomes haven’t kept up and the country’s housing shortage has taken a toll,” Zillow said in its report.

At the beginning of Biden's term, policy proposals included enacting a $15 minimum wage when Democrats controlled both chambers but it may be unlikely to become law in the divided Congress.

Currently, 20 states have a minimum wage that is not higher than the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

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