Democratic candidate Sanders proposes $15 an hour minimum wage, puts pressure on rival Clinton

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is pressing front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton to support a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour.

The Vermont senator made an appearance Wednesday with striking contract workers on Capitol Hill who are employed as cooks and janitors in a number of federal buildings in Washington. Many of the workers earn less than $11 an hour.

Sanders is pushing a bill that would phase in increases in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. That proposal is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled Congress, but it puts pressure on Clinton to support the approach.

Clinton backs raising the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour, but she's stopped short of endorsing the $15 level. She says she backs local efforts to raise wages.