Good morning. Sunny with a high around 75 today. Clear overnight, with a low around 55. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Bloc Party, “This Modern Love.” Bloc Party play the Anthem tonight with Blonde Redhead and Joan.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of my daily music recommendations this year.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
List twist: The Department of Homeland Security removed a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” from its website. It was “riddled with misspellings,” and many of the places listed argued they didn’t belong on the list—one, Huntington Beach, California, had in fact passed a resolution declaring it was a “non-sanctuary city.” (AP) The list included multiple places purportedly in Virginia that were misclassified or don’t actually exist, like “Martinsville County.” (WSET)
Clone goal: President Trump was online over the weekend and used some of his time to share a “theory” that former President Biden was executed and replaced by a robot years ago. (NYT)
Elon gate? CBS News aired its entire interview with Elon Musk a few days after a clip in which he criticized the GOP’s budget bill and Trump’s tariffs may have speeded his apparent exit from Washington. (CBS News) Trump withdrew the nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to run NASA, apparently because he’d donated to Democrats in the past. (NYT) Isaacman had disclosed the donations, and though Trump claimed he didn’t know about them, he was reportedly briefed about them late last year. (NYT)
Bent-knee blues: “At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals.” (WSJ) Despite courts knocking back Trump’s executive orders about law firms, “attorneys and law firms may still worry that the administration will punish them if they challenge the president’s agenda.” (Washington Post)
“Well, we all are going to die”: After an audience member at a town hall in Iowa shouted “People are going to die” during a discussion of the effects of proposed GOP cuts to Medicare, US Senator Joni Ernst replied, “Well, we all are going to die.” (Politico) Ernst followed up with a video filmed in a cemetery in which she mocked people upset by her remarks. (Washington Post)
Publish and perish: Department of Veterans Affairs honchos “ordered that VA physicians and scientists not publish in medical journals or speak with the public without first seeking clearance from political appointees.” (The Guardian)
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert:
If you’re a fan of salsa macha—the nutty, chili-fueled Mexican condiment that’s been trending here for awhile—get yourself to Dupont pizza destination Boogy & Peel. There, you’ll find it on one of my favorite pies in the city, which is topped with nickel-sized pepperoni, honey, and liberal spoonfuls of the fiery stuff. But on my last visit, I also found it in a genius appetizer—a mashup of salsa macha and pimiento cheese. On the side: housemade chips that taste like an even better version of Cool Ranch Doritos. (1 Dupont Cir., NW.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Our June print issue is on stands now.
• WorldPride events you won’t want to miss.
• Where will DC’s records end up?
• Breakfast and brunch recommendations in Georgetown.
• We tried to get into Donald Trump Jr.‘s exclusive new MAGA club in Georgetown but ’twas not to be.
Local news links:
• Trump claimed on Friday to have fired National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet, but it’s not clear that he has the authority to do so. His proposed budget cuts the Smithsonian by 12 percent and “excluded funding for its Anacostia Community Museum and its forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino,” according to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. (Washington Post)
• Enjoy your fleece vest while you can: Hot temperatures and high humidity will arrive on Wednesday [and from this point in the sentence forward Washingtonian Today, not the Capital Weather Gang, is prognosticating] and be here until you can’t take it anymore, and then persist another couple of months. (Washington Post)
• DC’s Union Temple Baptist Church unveiled a portrait of Bayard Rustin yesterday. (WJLA)
• Absolutely shocking story: After police arrested a man for the murder of Ayalew Wondimu, a convenience store clerk, they discovered the body of his girlfriend, Denise Middleton, who was pregnant and whom he’d shot eight weeks earlier. Torrey Moore received three life sentences Friday. (Washington Post)
• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a bill that will ban cell-phone use by students in Virginia schools. (WUSA9)
• Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger is polling well ahead of her GOP rival, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. (Politico)
• Alexandria police arrested a man Friday, saying he had tried to abduct women near Braddock Road and Potomac Yard Metro stations. (WUSA9)
• A fight at Smithsonian’s National Zoo attracted police. (PoPville)
• NYT fashion critic Vanessa Friedman discusses the “cartoon” fashion and beauty style MAGAs have brought to DC. (NYT)
Wild kingdom watch: A Virginia man was sentenced and fined for killing a bald eagle on his property. (WTOP) A black bear took a stroll through Bethesda. (NBC4 Washington) Police in Bowie caught and euthanized a possibly rabid raccoon. (WUSA9)
We’re now taking suggestions for this year’s “Most Powerful Women” list. You can nominate someone here. Know someone we should consider for our Tech Titans feature this year? Put their name forward 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.
