Good morning. Sunny and gusty with a high near 77. A low around 57 tonight. 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:
Amyl and the Sniffers, “Security.” This Australian band’s high-octane open letter to a nightclub doorman is just the thing to get you moving on a Monday morning. They’re radges, as my Scottish relatives would say, and they’ll play the Fillmore Silver Spring with Sheer Mag tonight.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Selective service: President Trump and his administration are “trying a new tactic for gutting federal rules and policies that the president dislikes: simply stop enforcing them.” (Washington Post) The administration “is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable.” (AP) Hackers say it took them about 20 minutes to infiltrate a Signal clone favored by Trump administration officials. (Wired) The Justice Department is considering a proposal that would cut its Public Integrity Section out of decisions on whether to prosecute public officials. The move “could give presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys more authority in shaping public corruption cases, making prosecutions more political.” (Washington Post)
Economy corner: Trump’s climbdown from tariffs on China has shown other countries negotiating trade deals with the US that the President “has begun to realize that he has overplayed his hand.” (Bloomberg) Trump said Walmart should “eat the tariffs” and not pass on price increases to consumers, as the retailer said it would. (AP) Moody’s downgraded the US government’s credit rating. The Trump administration blamed the Biden administration. (WSJ)
Ax of Congress: The House Budget Committee pushed the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” forward after hardline conservatives agreed to vote “present.” The bill proposes spending cuts proponents say would allow Congress to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. (Washington Post) “The plan won’t reduce federal budget deficits and would make America’s fiscal hole deeper.” (WSJ)
Biden update: Former President Biden has been diagnosed with “an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.” (NYT) Earlier: Democrats who want to run in 2028 “have mostly dodged questions” about Biden’s “condition while in office.” (Politico)
Administration perambulation: The GAO has resisted Elon Musk‘s DOGE project, saying it is part of the legislative branch. (NOTUS) As polling shows Musk growing ever more unpopular, Republicans have stopped mentioning him. (Politico) Someone stole a statue of Melania Trump in Slovenia. It replaced a wooden statue that someone had burned. (AP) Trump demanded an investigation into Bruce Springsteen. (Politico)
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert:
It’d been a long time since I’d checked out Green Pig Bistro, the Southern charmer that opened 12 years ago in Clarendon. And it’s…different. Gone is the original location, a folksy room crammed with vintage pots and pans. Last year, it moved to a draftier, darker space, below the Mexican restaurant Buena Vida. And the menu, now overseen by chef Laurence Cohen, is much bigger and less devotedly Southern, with plates like lobster ravioli and red curry mussels. Still, I was happy to see one of my old favorites still on the menu—a terrific pile of small, crispy pork ribs dressed up like Buffalo wings, with curls of celery and plenty of buttery hot sauce. Is there a better bar snack in Clarendon? I haven’t found it. (2900 Wilson Blvd., Arlington.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• LitBox, a vending machine for books, has arrived at Western Market.
• A new show highlights the paintings of Charles Lenny Lunn, a non-speaking autistic artist from Bethesda.
Local news links:
• FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau will leave the J. Edgar Hoover building. (Government Executive)
• Economic uncertainty is hitting hotels in DC harder than other parts of the country. (Bisnow)
• Zachary Alam, a January 6 rioter from Centreville who was pardoned by President Trump, was arrested after police said he broke into a home and stole goods inside. (WUSA9)
• Virginians with certain low level convictions will be allowed to seal their records. (WTOP)
• A large crowd of teens swept through Navy Yard in a disorderly fashion Saturday night. Police said some of them may be connected to a robbery nearby. (NBC4 Washington)
• Journalism, a horse, won the Preakness stakes Saturday. The race will move to Laurel Race Track while Pimlico is being completely rebuilt. (WTOP)
• There’s no timetable yet for demolition of RFK Stadium. (WUSA9)
• Tequila is Virginia’s most-stolen liquor. (The Richmonder)
• James and Charlotte were DC’s most popular baby names last year. (Axios D.C.)
• The Zoo’s new pandas are exhibiting signs of “flirtatious feelings” with each other. (WTOP) They greet each other through ““howdy windows.” (Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
• Marvel at this footage of a kayaker fighting white water on the Potomac. (Jeanne Stuart McVey/X)
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.
