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. The move will provide relief for 317,0000 people who enrolled in the colleges between 2004 and 2017. This latest round of student loan forgiveness brings the total approved by the Biden Administration to almost $160 billion for nearly 4.6 million borrowers – an average of nearly $35,000 per student. (NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Bloomberg)

2/ The Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged at their highest level in two decades. The federal funds rate has been between 5.25% and 5.50% since July 2023. After the consumer price index came in at 3.5% on an annual basis last month, the central bank said there’s been “a lack of further progress” toward its 2% percent inflation goal. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / CNN / ABC News)

3/ A federal court blocked Louisiana from using a new congressional map for this year’s elections, which created a second majority-Black district. In the 2-1 decision, the judges ruled the new map amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The ruling in favor of a group of self-described “non-African American” voters comes after the state legislature was ordered to redraw congressional districts to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court, which leaves uncertainty about which map will be used for this year’s elections that are six months away. (Politico / NBC News / New York Times / NPR / Washington Post / USA Today)

4/ Democrats won a special election House seat in New York, further shrinking the Republicans’ majority in the House. Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy defeated Republican town supervisor Gary Dickson in the 26th District, and will serve out former Democratic congressman Brian Higgins’s term, which ends in January. House Republicans hold 217 seats and Democrats have 213 seats, leaving vacant five seats. (Associated Press / NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)

5/ Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to force a vote on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson next week. House Democrats, however, have pledged to block the effort after Johnson pushed through a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote,” Greene said, accusing Johnson of selling out his conservative values by working with Democrats to pass legislation. “Next week I am going to be calling this motion to vacate, absolutely calling it.” (NBC News / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR / Politico / Bloomberg / Axios / Associated Press)

6/ The Arizona state Senate voted to repeal its Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions. Two Republicans broke with their party and joined 14 Democrats in voting in favor of repealing the 1864 law. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill, which would reinstate a 2022 law that permitted abortions through 15 weeks of pregnancy. (Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press)

7/ Florida’s ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect. Florida joins eleven other states in the South that have restricted abortion access, either with six-week bans or total bans. Florida’s new law will replace its 15-week ban, forcing most Floridians and other Southerners to travel further to places like Virginia, Illinois or Washington, D.C. More than 9,300 people traveled to Florida last year for abortions. (Associated Press / NPR / NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)

poll/ 49% of Americans want politicians to pass laws ensuring national abortion access, while 37% say abortion laws should be left to states, and 14% want nationwide restrictions. (CNN)