Big Tech is shedding thousands of more jobs as companies adjust to a fragile economy and people returning to their pre-COVID-19 lives. Google parent company Alphabet on Friday became the latest in the tech industry to announce mass layoffs, saying it will cut about 12,000 jobs. The jobs cuts have roiled the tech industry, with tens of thousands of positions on the chopping block to start 2023: - Microsoft: 10,000 jobs
- Amazon: 18,000 jobs
- Salesforce: 8,000 jobs
Multiple other firms including Facebook parent Meta announced layoffs near the end of last year. What the White House says: "The President is certainly aware of and been watching," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. "Of course, when we hear that Americans are losing jobs, we we certainly watch that very closely." But Jean-Pierre also reiterated that employment remains robust across industries. "There are data that shows, and I mentioned this the other day, that companies are still continuing to grow," she said. "And they're investing in the United States." "We're seeing that layoffs remain at a record low," she added. |
|
|
Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Elizabeth Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
|
|
✂️ Trump takes on GOP over threat of cuts to Medicare, Social Security
|
Republicans in Congress should not cut "a single penny" from Medicare or Social Security, former President Trump said this week as GOP lawmakers prepare to wage a war over cuts to spending versus a federal debt limit hike. "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security to help pay for Joe Biden's reckless spending spree, which is more reckless than anybody's ever done or had in the history of our country," Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social feed. Trump is waging his third bid for president after losing to President Biden in the 2020 election. In the video, he instead called for cuts in other federal programs, including foreign aid, climate change, health care for trans soldiers and "waste, fraud and abuse everywhere we can find it." "While we absolutely need to stop Biden's out-of-control spending, the pain should be borne by Washington bureaucrats, not by hard-working American families and American seniors," Trump said. "The seniors are being absolutely destroyed in the last two years." Biden also opposes cuts to Social Security and Medicare but has pushed for Congress to raise the debt limit, as it has in a bipartisan way for decades. "MAGA Republicans in the House want to cut Social Security or they want to cut Medicare," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. "We should not be moving forward in conversations about the debt ceiling in that way." Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called Trump a hypocrite over his latest comments. "Donald Trump's own record speaks for itself: Every year he was in office, Trump proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare programs. Americans overwhelmingly rejected the MAGA agenda of gutting Social Security, Medicare, and affordable health care in 2018, 2020, and 2022, and will do so again," DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake said. |
|
|
📄 Voters eye Biden's classified documents with skepticism: poll
|
President Biden claims "there's no 'there' there" when it comes to questions over his handling of classified documents recently discovered at his private residence and an office, but voters maybe aren't so sure.
A new a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Friday found that 64 percent of voters said they consider "the presence of these classified documents in several unsecure locations to be a serious breach of national security." Thirty-six percent of respondents consider it a minor breach of national security.
Biden on Thursday responded to questions about the documents found in his home and a former office for the first time since their existence was revealed in reports earlier this month. "I think you're going to find there's nothing there. I have no regrets, I'm following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do," he told reporters. On Friday, the White House press secretary wouldn't go beyond what the president said. "He laid out his thoughts," Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "I'm not going to go beyond what the president has said, but I'll reiterate from here that he does indeed take classified information seriously, classified documents seriously." |
|
|
👋 Biden plans to invite McCarthy over
|
President Biden will invite newly minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over for an upcoming visit, the White House said.
"The president will have a series of meetings with leadership in Congress to talk about a range of issues that matter to the American people," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters when asked Friday about a potential confab. "He's looking forward to meeting with Speaker McCarthy ... I don't want to get ahead of a meeting that has not been locked in."
A meeting that has been locked in: Biden will host Democratic leaders from Congress early next week.
In the past week, McCarthy has slammed Biden over his handling of classified documents recently discovered in his private possession and the White House has questioned the terms of any back-room deals that McCarthy brokered to secure the Speaker's gavel.
Background: After McCarthy was elected Speaker earlier this month, Biden released a statement congratulating him.
"The American people expect their leaders to govern in a way that puts their needs above all else, and that is what we need to do now," Biden said.
During the last term, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, McCarthy made it known that even though he was the GOP leader he felt snubbed by not being invited to the White House more often. Getting back to good: McCarthy was on hand in November when Biden held a "productive conversation" with the House and Senate leaders of both parties following the midterm elections.
McCarthy even brought his mother to a White House state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron in December.
|
|
|
🏛️ Roe's over, but crowd still gathers for March for Life
|
After nearly five decades, Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's seminal ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, is no longer the law of the land, but thousands of anti-abortion rights activists still marched on Washington on Friday during the annual March for Life — this time with a focus on the Capitol instead of the court. Under a new conservative shift, justices narrowly upended Roe in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case last year — a decision that's been heralded by people who have fought against abortion for decades and decried by advocates for reproductive rights for women. President Biden has urged Congress to enshrine abortion rights into federal law — a feat unlikely with a Republican-controlled House that has made
anti-abortion initiatives a priority. Vice President Harris will deliver a speech in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sunday marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe decision and addressing recent abortion restrictions across the country. "The vice president will make very clear: The fight to secure women's fundamental right to reproductive health care is far from over," Harris press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a recent statement previewing the remarks. |
|
|
🐊 White House slams Florida over nixing AP African American studies
|
The Biden administration has weighed into the latest culture war that is being waged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination next year: Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies courses. "It is incomprehensible to see … this ban or this block, to be more specific, that DeSantis has put forward," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, noting the Biden administration does not play a role in dictating school curriculums.
It's not the first time Biden, who is expected to formally announce a run for reelection in the coming weeks, has traded barbs with potential election foe DeSantis, who recently took aim at him over the investigation into the president's handling of classified documents. "They're acting like this is something — like it's not a big deal," DeSantis said at a recent news conference. DeSantis has faced backlash after his administration barred Florida schools from offering a newly-tested African American studies class approved by the College Board, an independent nonprofit that administers the SATs and other college placement tests. |
|
| 🇺🇦 No deal: Defense chiefs don't agree on sending tanks to Ukraine
|
Top Western military officials have failed to reach an agreement on modern battle tanks that would Ukraine in its war with Russia. After meeting for more than five hours at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, officials from more than 40 countries remained at an impasse on the issue Friday, largely driven by Germany's hesitance to giving Ukraine German-made Leopard 2 tanks. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that Germany hasn't made up its mind on the issue. "We have a window of opportunity here between now and the spring, whenever they commence their operation, their counteroffensive — and that's not a long time," he said. President Biden remains confident about more assistance for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict. "Ukraine is going to get all the help they need," Biden told reporters Friday. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has announced new sanctions against Wagner, which has taken to the battlefield in Ukraine, naming the private Russian military group a "significant Transnational Criminal Organization," essentially an American warning against dealing with Wagner. "It will broaden the network of nations and institutions that will be able to stop doing business with Wagner," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday. |
|
|
"American democracy is dodging bullets" — Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (Read here) "Nixon legacy has lessons for Biden and today's GOP" — William Antholis of the University of Virginia's Miller Center. (Read here) |
|
|
The Senate will be back in session at 1 p.m. on Monday, and the House returns Tuesday. Vice President Harris will be in Florida on Sunday to deliver remarks on the 50th anniversary of the now upended Roe v. Wade decision that had ensured abortion rights. President Biden will be at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., over the weekend but is slated to return to the White House on Monday. On Tuesday, the president will hold a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders in the day and host a reception for new members in the evening. |
|
|
There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: ecrisp@thehill.com |
|
|
1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 | © 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment