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House GOP rolls out 10-year budget plan amid spending fight on September 19, 2023 at 11:39 pm Business News | The Hill
Republicans on the House Budget Committee on Tuesday rolled out the party’s 10-year budget plan as the conference races to strike a deal on spending little under two weeks out from a looming government shutdown deadline.
Republicans say the ambitious measure would balance the federal budget over the next decade, with proposals aimed at cutting the nation’s deficits by more than $16 trillion during the period.
Among the proposals the GOP-led committee has highlighted as part of the plan are changes to work requirements for able-bodied recipients of Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, limits on discretionary spending and rollbacks of parts of Democrats’ signature Inflation Reduction Act.
The proposed budget is a 10-year blueprint and wishlist of sorts. It is distinct from the spending bills being debated as the clock ticks toward a shutdown at the end of the month and will not become law.
But the measure can provide a look into where the party thinks the nation’s fiscal trajectory should be headed over the next decade.
“I hope that this will help grease the skids for us to get a unified Republican funding package on the discretionary spending,” House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told reporters this week.
The committee’s planned markup on Wednesday coincides with growing debate in the GOP conference over spending, as leadership works to get the party’s various factions on the same page ahead of expected negotiations with the Democratic-led Senate on how to avoid a government shutdown.
In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) called the proposed budget plan a “step forward” and provides a measure that the party “convalesce around” and “maybe get to some consensus before it gets to Sept. 30.”
Burchett is among a list of Republicans who have come out against a legislative deal worked out between the House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus over the weekend that would stave off the threat of a shutdown later this month.
That bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), would punt the shutdown deadline from the end of the month through Oct. 31, along with provisions that would cut spending and enact changes to border policy as leadership works to lock down support from hardline conservatives.
GOP leaders previously set sights on a floor vote on the CR this week, but plans for a procedural vote on the bill were scrapped on Tuesday as internal divisions in the conference over how far to cut government spending for the coming fiscal year have garnered attention in recent weeks.
Democrats have already come out against the budget plan, with Rep. Brendan Boyle (Penn.), top Democrat on the Budget Committee, accusing his colleagues across the aisle of pushing for “cruel cuts to everything from health care to education.”
“Make no mistake: America is barreling towards a government shutdown because Republicans reneged on the bipartisan budget agreement in their thirst for cruel budget cuts – cuts which will raise the cost of living when it’s already too high,” he said in a statement.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also released a statement calling the legislation a “deal-breaking budget that attacks essential government programs, undermines economic growth and national safety, and raises costs for households nationwide.”
“Using the same old, tired, trickle-down playbook, they are seeking to balance the budget on the backs of regular folks, while delivering huge tax cuts for big businesses and billionaires,” he added. “Their massive tax giveaways are based on fantasy math — the arithmetic just doesn’t work.”
The Republican budget comes in stark contrast to the one the White House rolled out months ago that included boosts for non-defense spending and Democratic priorities, while pressing for tax increases on the wealthy aimed at tackling the nation’s deficits.
But Republicans have pushed back on the criticisms, often pointing to the growth of national debt, which recently climbed to more than $33 trillion, as cause for alarm.
The Congressional Budget Office also projected earlier this year that country’s deficit for fiscal year 2023 was on track to totalling $1.7 trillion.
The GOP plan includes some changes to Medicare, but Republicans have maintained those reforms would amount to “non-benefit” cuts.
“Like site neutrality, like hospital debt that we’re paying at 100 percent. That we don’t need to pay it 100 percent,” Arrington said at a press conference.”
The new budget plan also doesn’t include changes to Social Security – which, like Medicare, faces threats to solvency in the coming years – after a bruising partisan debate over potential reforms to extend the lifetime of the program earlier this year.
“We don’t cut Medicare benefits, and we don’t cut Social Security or veterans benefits,” Arrington said. “But let me be clear, in this 10 year window, both the Social Security and the Medicare trust funds will become insolvent.”
Arrington instead said Republicans are recommending a bipartisan commission to explore potential changes to the programs, which account for a chunk of federal spending.
Republicans say the budget plan would result in “$4.6 trillion in savings” on the discretionary side over the next decade, with proposals to set base discretionary budget authority for most of next year at fiscal year 2022 levels. The plan also calls for capping discretionary spending growth at 1 percent after 2024.
“You’ve got to grow faster than inflation plus population. This budget does that,” Arrington argued on Monday. “We return to pro-growth, pro-work, pro-energy policies that we know will reignite this economy.”
Budget, Business, House, News Republicans on the House Budget Committee on Tuesday rolled out the party’s 10-year budget plan as the conference races to strike a deal on spending little under two weeks out from a looming government shutdown deadline. Republicans say the ambitious measure would balance the federal budget over the next decade, with proposals aimed at cutting…
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Google Accused Of Favoring White, Asian Staff As It Reaches $28 Million Deal That Excludes Black Workers
Google has tentatively agreed to a $28 million settlement in a California class‑action lawsuit alleging that white and Asian employees were routinely paid more and placed on faster career tracks than colleagues from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
- A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge has granted preliminary approval, calling the deal “fair” and noting that it could cover more than 6,600 current and former Google workers employed in the state between 2018 and 2024.
How The Discrimination Claims Emerged
The lawsuit was brought by former Google employee Ana Cantu, who identifies as Mexican and racially Indigenous and worked in people operations and cloud departments for about seven years. Cantu alleges that despite strong performance, she remained stuck at the same level while white and Asian colleagues doing similar work received higher pay, higher “levels,” and more frequent promotions.
Cantu’s complaint claims that Latino, Indigenous, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Alaska Native employees were systematically underpaid compared with white and Asian coworkers performing substantially similar roles. The suit also says employees who raised concerns about pay and leveling saw raises and promotions withheld, reinforcing what plaintiffs describe as a two‑tiered system inside the company.
Why Black Employees Were Left Out
Cantu’s legal team ultimately agreed to narrow the class to employees whose race and ethnicity were “most closely aligned” with hers, a condition that cleared the path to the current settlement.
The judge noted that Black employees were explicitly excluded from the settlement class after negotiations, meaning they will not share in the $28 million payout even though they were named in earlier versions of the case. Separate litigation on behalf of Black Google employees alleging racial bias in pay and promotions remains pending, leaving their claims to be resolved in a different forum.
What The Settlement Provides
Of the $28 million total, about $20.4 million is expected to be distributed to eligible class members after legal fees and penalties are deducted. Eligible workers include those in California who self‑identified as Hispanic, Latinx, Indigenous, Native American, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and/or Alaska Native during the covered period.
Beyond cash payments, Google has also agreed to take steps aimed at addressing the alleged disparities, including reviewing pay and leveling practices for racial and ethnic gaps. The settlement still needs final court approval at a hearing scheduled for later this year, and affected employees will have a chance to opt out or object before any money is distributed.
H2: Google’s Response And The Broader Stakes
A Google spokesperson has said the company disputes the allegations but chose to settle in order to move forward, while reiterating its public commitment to fair pay, hiring, and advancement for all employees. The company has emphasized ongoing internal audits and equity initiatives, though plaintiffs argue those efforts did not prevent or correct the disparities outlined in the lawsuit.
For many observers, the exclusion of Black workers from the settlement highlights the legal and strategic complexities of class‑action discrimination cases, especially in large, diverse workplaces. The outcome of the remaining lawsuit brought on behalf of Black employees, alongside this $28 million deal, will help define how one of the world’s most powerful tech companies is held accountable for alleged racial inequities in pay and promotion.
At just 29, Luana Lopes Lara has taken a title that usually belongs to pop stars and consumer‑app founders.
Multiple business outlets now recognize her as the world’s youngest self‑made woman billionaire, after her company Kalshi hit an 11 billion dollar valuation in a new funding round.
That round, a 1 billion dollar Series E led by Paradigm with Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, CapitalG and others participating, instantly pushed both co‑founders into the three‑comma club. Estimates place Luana’s personal stake at roughly 12 percent of Kalshi, valuing her net worth at about 1.3 billion dollars—wealth tied directly to equity she helped create rather than inheritance.
Kalshi itself is a big part of why her ascent matters.
Founded in 2019, the New York–based company runs a federally regulated prediction‑market exchange where users trade yes‑or‑no contracts on real‑world events, from inflation reports to elections and sports outcomes.
As of late 2025, the platform has reached around 50 billion dollars in annualized trading volume, a thousand‑fold jump from roughly 300 million the year before, according to figures cited in TechCrunch and other financial press. That hyper‑growth convinced investors that event contracts are more than a niche curiosity, and it is this conviction—expressed in billions of dollars of new capital—that turned Luana’s share of Kalshi into a billion‑dollar fortune almost overnight.
Her path to that point is unusually demanding even by founder standards. Luana grew up in Brazil and trained at the Bolshoi Theater School’s Brazilian campus, where reports say she spent up to 13 hours a day in class and rehearsal, competing for places in a program that accepts fewer than 3 percent of applicants. After a stint dancing professionally in Austria, she pivoted into academics, enrolling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study computer science and mathematics and later completing a master’s in engineering.
During summers she interned at major firms including Bridgewater Associates and Citadel, gaining a front‑row view of how global macro traders constantly bet on future events—but without a simple, regulated way for ordinary people to do the same.
That realization shaped Kalshi’s founding thesis and ultimately her billionaire status. Together with co‑founder Tarek Mansour, whom she met at MIT, Luana spent years persuading lawyers and U.S. regulators that a fully legal event‑trading exchange could exist under commodities law. Reports say more than 60 law firms turned them down before one agreed to help, and the company then spent roughly three years in licensing discussions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before gaining approval. The payoff is visible in 2025’s numbers: an 11‑billion‑dollar valuation, a 1‑billion‑dollar fresh capital injection, and a founder’s stake that makes Luana Lopes Lara not just a compelling story but a data point in how fast wealth can now be created at the intersection of finance, regulation, and software.
America’s job market is facing an unprecedented crisis—and nowhere is this more painfully obvious than at Harvard, the world’s gold standard for elite education. A stunning 25% of Harvard’s MBA class of 2025 remains unemployed months after graduation, the highest rate recorded in university history. The Ivy League dream has become a harsh wakeup call, and it’s sending shockwaves across the professional landscape.
Jobless at the Top: Why Graduates Can’t Find Work
For decades, a Harvard diploma was considered a golden ticket. Now, graduates send out hundreds of résumés, often from their parents’ homes, only to get ghosted or auto-rejected by machines. Only 30% of all 2025 graduates nationally have found full-time work in their field, and nearly half feel unprepared for the workforce. “Go to college, get a good job“—that promise is slipping away, even for the smartest and most driven.
Tech’s Iron Grip: ATS and AI Gatekeepers
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) and AI algorithms have become ruthless gatekeepers. If a résumé doesn’t perfectly match the keywords or formatting demanded by the bots, it never reaches human eyes. The age of human connection is gone—now, you’re just a data point to be sorted and discarded.
AI screening has gone beyond basic qualifications. New tools “read” for inferred personality and tone, rejecting candidates for reasons they never see. Worse, up to half of online job listings may be fake—created simply to collect résumés, pad company metrics, or fulfill compliance without ever intending to fill the role.
The Experience Trap: Entry-Level Jobs Require Years
It’s not just Harvard grads who are hurting. Entry-level roles demand years of experience, unpaid internships, and portfolios that resemble a seasoned professional, not a fresh graduate. A bachelor’s degree, once the key to entry, is now just the price of admission. Overqualified candidates compete for underpaid jobs, often just to survive.
One Harvard MBA described applying to 1,000 jobs with no results. Companies, inundated by applications, are now so selective that only those who precisely “game the system” have a shot. This has fundamentally flipped the hiring pyramid: enormous demand for experience, shrinking chances for new entrants, and a brutal gauntlet for anyone not perfectly groomed by internships and coaching.
Burnout Before Day One
The cost is more than financial—mental health and optimism are collapsing among the newest generation of workers. Many come out of elite programs and immediately end up in jobs that don’t require degrees, or take positions far below their qualifications just to pay the bills. There’s a sense of burnout before careers even begin, trapping talent in a cycle of exhaustion, frustration, and disillusionment.
Cultural Collapse: From Relationships to Algorithms
What’s really broken? The culture of hiring itself. Companies have traded trust, mentorship, and relationships for metrics, optimizations, and cost-cutting. Managers no longer hire on potential—they rely on machines, rankings, and personality tests that filter out individuality and reward those who play the algorithmic game best.
AI has automated the very entry-level work that used to build careers—research, drafting, and analysis—and erased the first rung of the professional ladder for thousands of new graduates. The result is a workforce filled with people who know how to pass tests, not necessarily solve problems or drive innovation.
The Ghost Job Phenomenon
Up to half of all listings for entry-level jobs may be “ghost jobs”—positions posted online for optics, compliance, or future needs, but never intended for real hiring. This means millions of job seekers spend hours on applications destined for digital purgatory, further fueling exhaustion and cynicism.
Not Lazy—Just Locked Out
Despite the headlines, the new class of unemployed graduates is not lazy or entitled—they are overqualified, underleveraged, and battered by a broken process. Harvard’s brand means less to AI and ATS systems than the right keyword or résumé format. Human judgment has been sidelined; individuality is filtered out.
What’s Next? Back to Human Connection
Unless companies rediscover the value of human potential, mentorship, and relationships, the job search will remain a brutal numbers game—one that even the “best and brightest” struggle to win. The current system doesn’t just hurt workers—it holds companies back from hiring bold, creative talent who don’t fit perfect digital boxes.
Key Facts:
- 25% of Harvard MBAs unemployed, highest on record
- Only 30% of 2025 grads nationwide have jobs in their field
- Nearly half of grads feel unprepared for real work
- Up to 50% of entry-level listings are “ghost jobs”
- AI and ATS have replaced human judgment at most companies
If you’ve felt this struggle—or see it happening around you—share your story in the comments. And make sure to subscribe for more deep dives on the reality of today’s economy and job market.
This is not just a Harvard problem. It’s a sign that America’s job engine is running on empty, and it’s time to reboot—before another generation is locked out.
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