WTF Just Happened Today

1/ Biden will cancel $6 billion in student loans for people who attended the Art Institutes, a shuttered group of private for-profit colleges accused of fraud. “This institution falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects at the end of their studies,” Biden said in a statement. T

1/ Trump was held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors in his Manhattan criminal trial. Trump was also ordered to remove seven “offending” social media posts and two posts on his campaign website. Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump he could be jailed for further violation

1/ Senior State Department officials warned that they don’t have “credible or reliable” assurances that Israel is using U.S.-provided weapons in accordance with international law. Under a National Security Memorandum that Biden issued in February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken must determine whether Israel is using U.S. weapons “in a manner consistent with all applicabl

1/ Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker returned to the stand on the seventh day of Trump’s election interference trial involving falsified business records. Pecker testified that he spoke with Trump and Michael Cohen about paying Karen McDougal $150,000 to keep her story of an affair with Trump quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election. “We didn’t want the sto

1/ Biden signed the $95 billion national security package into law, overcoming months of opposition and infighting by Republicans in Congress. The package includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza, and $8 billion for security in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. Biden said the package is “going to make the world safer. And it contin

1/ Trump will likely be found in contempt of court for violating his gag order in the election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors argued that Trump violated the limited gag order at least 10 times, and asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court, fine Trump $10,000, and force T

1/ On the fifth day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign, the prosecution and defense both delivered opening statements. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo framed that case as “a planned, long-running conspiracy” – orchestrated by Trump – “to corrupt the 2016 presidential election,�

1/ On the third day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, two of the seven jurors already seated in the case were removed. One expressed concerns after being identified publicly based on details reported by the media. After being dismissed, Judge Juan Merchan blamed journalists for bei

1/ Speaker Mike Johnson defied threats from his Republican colleagues to oust him and scheduled a vote on individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Johnson plans to have the House vote on three individual foreign aid bills, a fourth bill sanctioning Russia, China, and Iran, and a fifth bill addressing border security measures. The package largely mirrors the Senate-pass

1/ The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. A fourth bill would wrap several Republican foreign policy proposals into one, including the seizure of Russian assets, and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. In total, the legislative package roughly resembles the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. House S