Good morning. Rainy today with a high around 64. More showers possible overnight, with a low around 48.
Sports this weekend: The Nationals will host the Cardinals all weekend. The DC Defenders will visit the San Antonio Brahmas this evening. The Capitals beat Carolina last night, to tie this playoffs series at 1-1. The teams will meet again tomorrow in Raleigh. The Washington Spirit will visit the Chicago Stars Saturday. D.C. United will be in Toronto that day, and Loudoun United FC will host Lexington SC.
You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
Today’s the last day you can submit your pooch for our Cutest Dog Contest. This roundup is now available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Fontaines D.C., “Jackie Down the Line.” My youngest son introduced me to this Irish band (the “D.C.” in their name stands for “Dublin City”), and in turn I got to introduce him to the Fall, who they remind me of at times. Everybody won! Fontaines D.C. play the Anthem tonight with Jadu Heart.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
LOC’ed out: President Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden last night without warning or explanation. (NYT) The American Accountability Foundation, a right wing group that prepared a list of Trump’s ideological enemies before the election, had called for her ouster. (AP)
Ed on arrival: Trump zapped Ed Martin‘s nomination to be the US Attorney for DC yesterday after it became clear the controversial pick didn’t have enough Republican support in the Senate. The President appointed Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the next interim US Attorney for DC. (ABC News) Pirro has worked as a judge and as a DA in New York in addition to her media duties. Trump pardoned her ex-husband, Albert J. Pirro Jr., at the end of his first term. (Politico) She’s a defendant in Smartmatic’s defamation case against Fox News, and she’s the “third full-time host” (the others are Sean Duffy and Pete Hegseth) “to get appointed to Trump’s administration.” (Washington Post) Martin “will be moving to the Department of Justice as the new Director of the Weaponization Working Group.” (Donald J. Trump)
Papa don’t preach: Some MAGA types are upset about Pope Leo XIV‘s old social media posts. (Rolling Stone) “No one in the Sistine Chapel was thinking about Donald Trump when the Holy Spirit guided them to choose Cardinal Prevost.” (The Bulwark)
Acting out: Trump fired Cameron Hamilton, the acting head of FEMA yesterday, after Hamilton told Congress he didn’t agree with eliminating the disaster response agency. Neither Hamilton nor David Richardson, his replacement as acting director, has the “emergency management experience required under federal law” for a permanent appointment. (Politico) “Atlantic hurricane season starts in three weeks.” (NYT)
You investigate me? I investigate YOU: The administration plans to investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a civil fraud case against Trump in the Before Times. (CBS News) Trump’s case appears to rest on what James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said was one mistake in paperwork for a mortgage loan application. (NYT)
Google doc: Casey Means, the wellness influencer Trump nominated for surgeon general, has no active medical license and her “medical opining has occasionally veered in a more New Age direction.” (Mother Jones) She quit a residency six months before she was due to complete it. She says she “saw how broken and exploitative the healthcare system is.” A former chair of her department says she “resigned from the residency because of anxiety.” (LAT) RFK Jr. claimed Means was top of her class at Stanford, but Stanford says it doesn’t rank students that way. (Daniel Dale)
Administration perambulation: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said yesterday that there’s “no scenario” under which the administration will allow wrongly deported man Kilmar Abrego García to return to the US. (HuffPost) “US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has quietly rescinded several internal policies that were designed to protect some of the most vulnerable people in its custody.” (Wired) “A decades-long campaign to prevent infants from dying in their sleep has become a casualty of the Trump administration’s federal workforce cuts.” (Washington Post) The UK-US “trade deal” announced yesterday is in fact the “outlines of a deal.” (WSJ)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This newly renovated 8,000-square-foot house on a tree-lined lot in Alexandria’s Rosemont neighborhood has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms and features a wrap-around porch, herringbone hardwood floors, coffered ceilings, a luxe kitchen with a butler’s pantry, and a primary bedroom with a private porch. It’s listed at $3.49 million, and you can see it Saturday. Here are some more good-looking open houses to see this weekend.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• AAPI Heritage Month celebrations you won’t want to miss.
• These EU embassies are worth a visit this weekend.
• A wedding inspired by the couple’s travels.
Local news links:
• Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC’s non-voting delegate in Congress, “inexplicably” didn’t testify before the House Rules Committee about a fix to the hole the GOP blew in the District’s budget. It’s part of what some see as a pattern of age-related decline by the congresswoman. (Mother Jones) Previously: “[D]oes she still have what it takes to fight for DC?” (Washingtonian) Norton recently gave a garbled address at Arena Stage. (Washingtonian)
• Most DC residents “are in favor of using city money to help fund” a new Commanders stadium. Support is notably high in the ward where the new venue is planned. (Washington Post)
• A primer on the military parade being planned to coincide with Trump’s birthday. (Axios D.C.)
• The Capitals are embracing “agape love” in the postseason. Or perhaps “0gapey love.” (Washington Post)
• Some DC artists want streaming services to add go-go as a genre. (NBC4 Washington)
• A quirk in a videogame has won Nats pitcher Derek Law some unexpected fans. (Washington Post)
• A “potentially rabid fox” who attacked someone in her front yard is on the loose in Arlington. (ARLnow)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The penultimate performance of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” at the Kennedy Center.
Saturday: A gigantic bounce house opens in Ft. Washington.
Sunday: Enjoy the the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival.
See lots more picks for the weekend 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.
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.
