Today in one sentence: George Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 federal criminal charges; CNN will host Trump for a live, two-hour town hall one day after a civil jury found him liable for sexual assault, battery, and defamation; inflation eased to the lowest level in two years, but prices remain higher than normal; an FDA advisory panel unanimously endorsed making birth control pills available without a prescription for the first time; Missouri House Republicans banned gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricted transgender students from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity; Ron DeSantis and Florida education officials rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and “fixed” dozens of other books to prevent “political indoctrination of children”; and Joe Manchin threatened to vote against all of Biden's EPA nominees unless the administration rescinds new carbon emission standards for power plants.

1/ George Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 federal criminal charges. Santos, who was released on a $500,000 bond, faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making false statements to Congress, and one count of defrauding campaign donors to purchase designer clothes, make a car payment, and pay personal credit card bills. Santos also faces a charge that he fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits in 2020 when he was employed and earning an annual salary of $120,000. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / CNN / ABC News / NBC News / Politico / NPR / Axios)

2/ CNN will host Trump for a live, two-hour town hall Wednesday night – one day after a civil jury found him liable for sexual assault, battery, and defamation. As president, Trump regularly attacked the news media, calling the press “the enemy of the people,” while repeatedly insulting journalists and threatening to revoke press passes. [Editor’s note: Why CNN, why?] (NPR)

3/ Inflation eased to the lowest level in two years, but prices remain higher than normal. Consumer prices in April were 4.9% higher than a year ago – down from the 5% inflation rate in March and June 2022’s peak of 9.1%. Last week, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 10th time in 14 months to a range between 5% and 5.25% – the highest level in 16 years – in an effort to slow the economy. (NPR / CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CNN / Bloomberg)

4/ An FDA advisory panel unanimously endorsed making birth control pills available without a prescription for the first time. The FDA’s outside experts said the benefits of making a birth control pill available without a prescription outweigh the risks. The FDA is expected to make a decision on the proposed use of the oral contraceptive, called Opill, this summer or early fall. (Axios / ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News)

5/ Missouri House Republicans banned gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricted transgender students from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign both bills, which expire in 2027, after threatening a special legislative session on the issue if lawmakers didn’t act. At least 13 states this year have enacted laws or policies aimed at banning or severely limiting transition care for transgender youth. (Associated Press / New York Times / St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Missouri Independent)

6/ Ron DeSantis and Florida education officials rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and “fixed” dozens of other books to prevent “political indoctrination of children.” Florida initially rejected 81% of the textbooks submitted by publishers in part because they “contained prohibited subjects,” including critical race theory, or contained what the state’s education department considered “inaccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida law.” The Florida education commissioner said that textbooks should “focus on historical facts” and be “free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric.” The list of rejected or changed materials included books on U.S. history, the Holocaust, psychology, references to the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as descriptions of socialism and communism. (NPR / Tampa Bay Times / Washington Post / New York Times)

7/ Joe Manchin threatened to vote against all of Biden’s EPA nominees unless the administration rescinds new carbon emission standards for power plants. The EPA’s proposal, expected to be announced Thursday, would require coal and natural gas-fired power plants to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 by establishing new limits on their emissions. Manchin accused the Biden administration of trying to advance a “radical climate agenda” that’s “designed to kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts” by “regulat[ing] coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence.” Electricity production accounts for about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Of that, about 79% of those emissions come from coal and natural gas-fired power plants. Said another way: Roughly 20% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity. (Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Reuters)

Last year today: Day 476: "The bottom line."
Two years ago today: Day 111: "Step up."
Four years ago today: Day 841: No Rush.
Five years ago today: Day 476: Wrap it up.
Six years ago today: Day 111: You're kidding.