Good morning. A high around 87 today, with scattered showers and storms after 5 PM. Isolated showers overnight, with a low around 67.
Weekend sports: The Nationals are at Cincinnati all weekend. The Washington Spirit will host Angel City FC tonight. D.C. United will host Colorado on Saturday. Loudoun United FC will visit the Las Vegas Lights Saturday. Old Glory DC will host the Utah Warriors Sunday. The DC Defenders will visit the Michigan Panthers in Detroit Sunday.
You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is now available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Charles Aznavour, “Les plaisirs démodés.” The great French singer’s 1972 classic alternates between fuzz guitar psychedelic pop and lush Gallic chanson, and it’s exactly what you want to listen to before you watch the biopic “Monsieur Aznavour” at FilmFest DC this weekend. (There’s an English version of this song, but as ’80s French rockers Téléphone proved, sometimes art just doesn’t translate well. Anyway, it’s here if you’re curious.)
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Waltz comes tumbling down: President Trump ended Mike Waltz‘s brief tenure as national security adviser Thursday. Laura Loomer took credit for his ouster. (Politico) “Signalgate” and Waltz’s treatment of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also figured into the defenestration. (Axios) Trump later named Waltz the US ambassador to the UN. (NBC News) A photo of Waltz at a cabinet meeting this week shows him…using Signal. But not just a vanilla version of the messaging app: “an obscure and unofficial version of Signal.” (404 Media) Trump named Marco Rubio to Waltz’s old position temporarily, which means Rubio now has four jobs in the administration, including secretary of state. (NYT) Meanwhile, at the Pentagon: An inspector general has expanded its investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal. (WSJ)
Money minute: The US Labor Department “will report that employers added 135,000 jobs last month,” some of them not held by Marco Rubio. That’s “down sharply from the surprisingly strong 228,000 jobs added in March.” (AP) Consumers will begin to feel Trump’s tariffs today as packages carrying Chinese goods priced under $800 will no longer enter the country tariff-free. (Politico) “Little warning signs are flashing across the economy. The big question is what to make of them.” (Washington Post)
Skinny dip: The administration’s mostly symbolic “skinny budget” will hit Capitol Hill today. It says Elon Musk‘s DOGE project will save $150 billion next year, which is far less than than the $1 trillion Musk has promised to root out. (WSJ) Trump issued an executive order that calls for cuts to PBS and NPR. (AP) “Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to ‘stop awarding all funding actions until further notice.'” (Nature) The administration has “halted $1 billion for mental health services for children.” (NYT)
“I guess we’re good friends, and we’ll be on Air Force One or Marine One, and he’s like, ‘Hey do you want to stay over?’ And I’m like, ‘Sure.'” Musk reflected on his time in Washington. (NYT) In Texas, Musk “will now become the de-facto mayor of his own small town.” (Politico Magazine) “Why do so many people hate Elon Musk?”
(Washington Post)
Administration perambulation: A federal judge in South Texas barred the administration from deporting Venezuelans from his district by invoking the Alien Enemies Act. The ruling is limited, geographically, but “could have an effect, if not a binding one, on some of the other cases involving the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.” (NYT) A Trump official sought communications between a State Department office that combated foreign disinformation and journalists. (MIT Technology Review) An investigation ordered by Emil Bove III into student protests at Columbia University raised “anger and alarm among career prosecutors.” (NYT) Fired Justice Department pardon attorney Liz Oyer argues that Trump’s pardons of J6 defendants cost the US $1 billion. (Washington Post) An Abu Dhabi-backed company will make a “$2 billion business deal using the Trump firm’s digital coins.” (NYT) Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon “is certainly tweeting a lot.” (The Bulwark) Plans for a military parade in DC on Trump’s birthday involve “6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians.” (AP) Huh: Trump wants to rename Veterans Day (which is actually Congress’s call, but does that even matter at this point?) “Victory Day for World War I.” (NYT)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This newly constructed Chevy Chase house across from Rock Creek Park channels midcentury design with its clean lines and floor-to-ceiling windows. Amenities include wood-burning fireplaces on each level, a wet bar in the dining room, a soaking tub in the master bath, a yoga/exercise room, and a kids-only loft. It’s listed at $3.65 million. See more great open houses this weekend here.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Two Nine has opened in Georgetown with an omakase counter, a small but mighty sake list, and jewel box-like chirashi bowls.
• Ed Martin, Trump’s nominee for US Attorney for DC, used to represent January 6 defendants. Yesterday, he held a lightly attended meeting at his office where he invited people on Capitol Hill to discuss crime.
• Eight ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo around town.
• Embassy open houses start tomorrow! Here are ten you can see this weekend.
• We asked an NIH worker to talk about the mood inside the agency this day. “Absolute despair,” they said.
• Seven drag brunches.
• Wow, this wedding!
Local news links:
Drama continues in Virginia lieutenant governor race: On Wednesday, Governor Glenn Youngkin‘s top strategist and leader of his Spirit of Virginia PAC, Matt Moran, denied that he pressured John Reid to drop out of the lieutenant governor race. (Virginia Mercury) Audio of the meeting in question “surfaced,” and it appears to tell a very different story. (Virginia Mercury) Moran stepped down from the PAC last evening. (Politico)
Ed dept.: Ed Martin’s nomination is in trouble. (Politico) “Three people familiar with Martin’s nomination said he does not have the votes at this time to be approved.” (Washington Post)
Stadium Arcadium: Martin Austermuhle games out the prospects for DC Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s stadium plan in the DC Council. (The 51st) The Washington Freedom, a professional cricket team, would like a cricket facility at the Commanders’ proposed new digs. (WBJ) Flashback: We ran a good interview with Freedom owner Sanjay Govil in 2023. (Washingtonian)
• The administration hopes to move the case of Badar Khan Suri out of Virginia, where the Georgetown University professor lives, to Texas, where federal districts are “dominated by Republican-appointed judges.” (AP)
• Thousands of people attended a May Day rally in DC. (WUSA9)
• Wet month ahead. (Washington Post)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Metal health will drive you mad at the M3 Rock Festival, which starts Friday at Merriweather Post Pavilion and features David Lee Roth, Sebastian Bach, Accept, Great White, and at least two members of Ratt.
Saturday: The annual Running of the Chihuahuas raises money for dog rescue at the Wharf.
Sunday: It’s the last day of the Capital Rare Book Fair.
See lots more weekend picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Know someone we should consider for our Tech Titans feature this year? Nominate them here. Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
Have a good weekend. Thanks for reading. See you Monday morning.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
