• Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. The new Republican chair of the House Budget Committee would play a key role in the new Congress under any circumstances. But he takes office at a time when federal spending is knocking at the debt ceiling, giving him leverage to ask for spending cuts. Among the cuts he’ll ask for, even if a Democratic Senate means he won’t get them: A repeal of health-care reform. Ryan is already working hard promoting a new Republican congressional report touting the reforms as a spending disaster. Ryan may put the country on a fiscal diet, but he’s positioned to enjoy a political feast.
• Marie Morilus-Black. The director of the Children and Youth Services division of the DC Department of Mental Health admits, as part of a blockbuster Washington City Paper investigation, that residential treatment centers for young offenders don’t help. We’d love to talk to her about how to get meaningful treatment for the region’s troubled youth—and how to keep more Washingtonians like late principal Brian Betts from falling victim to crimes committed by kids who are ill-served by the system.
• Rear Admiral Dan Davenport. The chief of staff of the Joint Forces Command handles all the command’s administrative issues. And there’ll be a lot of those now that President Obama has formally accepted a proposal to retool JFCOM, shedding about 3,000 jobs in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced plans to decommission the Navy’s Second Fleet, which is based in Norfolk, and centralize control of its ships and personnel.
• Sekou Biddle, DC’s new at-large City Council member. Biddle pulled off a surprise victory over former councilman Vincent Orange in the third round of last night’s voting by members of Washington’s Democratic State Committee. For those voters who bemoaned former Mayor Adrian Fenty’s loss to Mayor Vincent Gray in last year’s election as proof that you can’t beat the establishment in Washington, Biddle’s victory may be proof that insurgents still have a chance—and that support for education reform in Washington isn’t dead. Biddle is a strong backer of charter schools and worked for both KIPP DC and Teach for America.
• Ellen and Richard Vlasak of Circe Salon in Alexandria. The question of whether the Real Housewives of DC will get a second season on Bravo remains unanswered. But in the region’s high-end-hairstylist wars, ratcheted up by the arrival of Ted Gibson in town and Erwin Gomez’s departure from the salon that bears his name, the Vlasaks are using the fact that some Housewives appear to be switching to Circe as a marketing coup. And given that the Vlasaks say both Michaele Salahi and Stacie Turner have patronized them recently, maybe Circe has achieved the salon integration that Mary Amons tipsily championed in one of the show’s early episodes.
Guest List: Today’s Newsmakers
The Washingtonians in the news today we’d like to have dinner with tonight
About Guest List
Guest List is Washingtonian’s monthly roundup of the fantasy cast we’d like to see for dinner this month.
• Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. The new Republican chair of the House Budget Committee would play a key role in the new Congress under any circumstances. But he takes office at a time when federal spending is knocking at the debt ceiling, giving him leverage to ask for spending cuts. Among the cuts he’ll ask for, even if a Democratic Senate means he won’t get them: A repeal of health-care reform. Ryan is already working hard promoting a new Republican congressional report touting the reforms as a spending disaster. Ryan may put the country on a fiscal diet, but he’s positioned to enjoy a political feast.
• Marie Morilus-Black. The director of the Children and Youth Services division of the DC Department of Mental Health admits, as part of a blockbuster Washington City Paper investigation, that residential treatment centers for young offenders don’t help. We’d love to talk to her about how to get meaningful treatment for the region’s troubled youth—and how to keep more Washingtonians like late principal Brian Betts from falling victim to crimes committed by kids who are ill-served by the system.
• Rear Admiral Dan Davenport. The chief of staff of the Joint Forces Command handles all the command’s administrative issues. And there’ll be a lot of those now that President Obama has formally accepted a proposal to retool JFCOM, shedding about 3,000 jobs in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced plans to decommission the Navy’s Second Fleet, which is based in Norfolk, and centralize control of its ships and personnel.
• Sekou Biddle, DC’s new at-large City Council member. Biddle pulled off a surprise victory over former councilman Vincent Orange in the third round of last night’s voting by members of Washington’s Democratic State Committee. For those voters who bemoaned former Mayor Adrian Fenty’s loss to Mayor Vincent Gray in last year’s election as proof that you can’t beat the establishment in Washington, Biddle’s victory may be proof that insurgents still have a chance—and that support for education reform in Washington isn’t dead. Biddle is a strong backer of charter schools and worked for both KIPP DC and Teach for America.
• Ellen and Richard Vlasak of Circe Salon in Alexandria. The question of whether the Real Housewives of DC will get a second season on Bravo remains unanswered. But in the region’s high-end-hairstylist wars, ratcheted up by the arrival of Ted Gibson in town and Erwin Gomez’s departure from the salon that bears his name, the Vlasaks are using the fact that some Housewives appear to be switching to Circe as a marketing coup. And given that the Vlasaks say both Michaele Salahi and Stacie Turner have patronized them recently, maybe Circe has achieved the salon integration that Mary Amons tipsily championed in one of the show’s early episodes.
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
Georgetown Cupcake Shut Down by DC Health Department
You Won’t Believe What This 27-Year-Old Spends Weekly on Food
Bruno, the French Bulldog Taken at Gunpoint, Found Dead
More Physicians Are Going Concierge. Are Longer Visits and 24-7 Access Worth the Fees?
Honest Tea Is Being Scrapped by Coca-Cola. Its Founder Has a Plan.
Washingtonian Magazine
August 2022: Taco Town
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This August
Why Do We Care So Much About Presidential Pooches?
The Tiny DC Art Space With a 20-Year History
Telling the Stories of 7,700 People Buried at Arlington Cemetery
More from News & Politics
Peek Inside Ryan Zimmerman’s Former $7.9M Home, Which Hit the Market This Week
You Won’t Believe What This 27-Year-Old Spends Weekly on Food
Two-Plus Years Into the Pandemic, Our Home Offices Are Still Causing Aches and Pains
Bruno, the French Bulldog Taken at Gunpoint, Found Dead
Austin Tice Abduction Anniversary Will Be Marked by National Press Club Event
Honest Tea Is Being Scrapped by Coca-Cola. Its Founder Has a Plan.
That Time Congressman Mark Pocan Did Magic Tricks for Uzi-Toting Guerrillas
Washington Wizards Reintroduce Classic Uniforms