About Washingtonian Today
Washingtonian Today is not just another political news roundup. Instead, this daily morning brief provides local context on national news, catches you up on what’s happening at Washingtonian, points you toward super duper awesome things to do around town, and lets you in on some special events going on in-house. Sign up here to receive Washingtonian Today in your inbox every morning.
Good Wednesday morning. President Trump once again has no public events on his schedule. Yet that hasn’t prevented him from communicating directly with the public on Twitter. Is Trump reclaiming his “executive time”? Reporting from Roll Call‘s John T. Bennett suggests that such unregulated time will extend further as more 2020 candidates toss their hats, or coffee cups, into the ring. A quick keyword search will tell you that Trump, even before his political career took off, is a reactionary tweeter. It will be interesting to see if he routinely carves out more alone time in an attempt to knife potential political rivals and ex-staffers who’ve written tell-alls.
According to OPM, formerly furloughed feds should expect a paycheck by this Thursday. But contractors are not expected to be repaid. There’s legislation floating around both chambers of Congress to guarantee back pay to the near 580,000 affected contractors, but no Republican senators have yet signed on to support it.
Hello, I’m your author, Brittany Shepherd. Email me with comments or questions and follow me on Twitter. Sign up for this newsletter here.
C’mon, DC, do the locomotion:How much will it cost for Maryland to offset Purple Line delays? Something to the tune of $60 million, which seems like a lot for a streetcar. Maybe we should all be reconsidering that Georgetown-Rosslyn Gondola project…
Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin is in remission from small cell lymphoma. She announced her diagnosis and remission during the first House Ways and Means committee meeting Tuesday. Per CNN: “I am announcing my remission today to remind everyone on this committee that I am a living example of the lifesaving value of essential health benefits,” Moore said during the meeting. “For my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that is a cost worth paying.”
What we have cooking at Washingtonian:
- Intern housing is never a fun place. We’ve all been there. But one particular Capitol Hill dorm has become more and more partisan in the last two years, and one ex-prison guard is tasked to keep the peace.
- Here are many takeout ideas for your Super Bowl party.
- TSA workers have returned to work to find parts of the office in uncomfortable conditions, including heat-free womens bathrooms.
- If you only do 16 things in February, it should be these 16 things.
- Are you a federal worker overwhelmed by email? Are you a non-federal worker and just another human who receives too many emails that really could just be Slack or gchat messages, or, heck, maybe just come over to my desk and tell me in per—sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s how to declutter your inbox, okay?
- NaLa aka National Landing aka The Neighborhood That Jeff Bezos Built aka the artist formally known as Crystal City has found its first new restaurant: The Freshman.
Our pick for things to do around town:
COMEDY: Decompress from your day job at Drafthouse Comedy’s “Funnier Than Your Average Boss.” Featuring five entrepreneurs and one Vegas headliner, the show will feature funny stories about work-life balance and raise money for CAIR Coalition, a non-profit that helps DMV immigrants with legal services. 18 and up. $30, 6:30 PM.
Good reads:
Cliff Sims is proud to have worked in the Trump White House. I bet his bank account is proud, too. Read his full Q&A with the New Yorker and join me in opining on how much his book advance must have been.
I will never stop tweeting. I will never log off. But some of my colleagues disagree. (Pro-tip: never, ever, ever log off!) (Associated Press)
Big events from Washingtonian
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Brittany Shepherd covers the societal and cultural scene in political Washington. Before joining Washingtonian as a staff writer in 2018, Brittany was a White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review. While she has lived in DC for a number of years now, she still yearns for the fresh Long Island bagels of home. Find her on Twitter, often prattling on about Frasier.
