Good morning. Sunny with a high around 85 today. Clear overnight with a low around 62. This evening the Nationals begin a three-game homestand against the Cubs, and the Mystics will visit the Indiana Fever. 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:
Steve Earle, “The Revolution Starts Now.” Earle’s report on the US at the midpoint of the George W. Bush administration still feels fresh two decades later—change starts “in your own backyard, in your own hometown,” he sings. He plays the Birchmere tonight with Zandi Holup. The show is sold out.
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:
Hot lava, snow, rain and fog / Long-neck giraffes, and pet cats and dogs: FEMA boss David Richardson told alarmed staff that he was unaware that the US has a hurricane season. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson says the comment was a joke. Hurricane season began this month and will last through November. (Reuters) The National Weather Service hopes to add more than a hundred people to its forecasting offices after it lost “more than 560 employees to layoffs and early retirement incentives earlier this year.” (CNN)
The phone ranger: Aides have given up on asking President Trump to give up his private cell phone, which he answers even when he doesn’t know who’s calling. (The Atlantic) Trump has posted on Truth Social more than 2,000 times since he took office. (Washington Post)
Deals still possible: The administration is comically behind on its goal of “90 deals in 90 days,” so it’s asking some countries to provide their best offers by Wednesday. (Reuters) Even though courts have cast serious doubt on Trump’s ability to impose tariffs under a novel reading of a 1977 law, the administration says he has other ways to invoke duties. (NYT) US companies are running out of rare earth magnets, a direct consequence of the on-again, off-again trade war Trump finds himself in with China. (NYT) The Chinese are not particularly swayed by Trump’s pronouncements that they’ve violated a 90-day truce in that contretemps. (NYT)
In the Elon run: Elon Musk may have stepped back from his DOGE project, but there are “clear indications that Musk will continue trying to influence politics.” (Mother Jones) Federal workers are buried in new red tape because of DOGE, which stands for the “Department of Government Efficiency.” (It’s not a department.) (Washington Post) Meet Zachary Terrell, a 23-year-old Musk lieutenant at the National Science Foundation who “logs into a Zoom meeting, pays more attention to his fingernails than the discussion, and kills your grant with an uninterested thumbs down.” (Techdirt) The FTC is investigating whether left-wing groups broke antitrust law by advocating boycotts of advertisers on the Musk-owned X. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Former Harvard Law Review editor Daniel Wasserman got a job at the White House after narcing on his colleagues. The White House says it’s a coincidence. (NYT) Remember the plan to buy Greenland? The Pentagon moved it from its European Command to the US Northern Command. (Politico) Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin visited Alaska to promote drilling. (AP)
Don’t miss these regional Pride festivities, by Daniella Byck
Happy Pride Month! Though WorldPride kicked off in May, the big parade down 14th Street is taking place on Saturday, June 7. If you’re looking for a great lineup of Pride events, Briana Thomas, our Things to Do newsletter writer, has put together curated lists covering Pride events and WorldPride events around town, from drag performances and queer romance panels to fun festivals. The entire region is celebrating love for all, so if you’re looking for festivities outside of the downtown hubbub, there are options for that, too. In Virginia, Fairfax is hosting an event the morning of Saturday, June 7, Mosaic has a parade on Saturday, June 14, and Alexandria is putting on a Pride fair on Saturday, June 28. Over in Maryland, Poolesville has a festival on Saturday, June 14, and Silver Spring will celebrate Pride in the Plaza on Sunday, June 29.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Sally Quinn is working on a memoir. But right now, she’s got a new novel about sex. She chatted about it with us.
• Kayu will close on H Street, Northeast, and reopen near Dupont Circle. Its sister restaurant, Hiraya, will also close. We talked to the owners about what happened.
• The White House’s budget proposes cutting all funds for the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and the planned National Museum of the American Latino.
• Can your kid still get a Covid vaccine?
• A new photo exhibit called “44x44x44” just opened backstage at the Atlantis. But you’ll have a few chances to see it even if you’re not playing there.
• This Eastern Shore wedding was an ode to Maryland.
Local news links:
Expect to hear more about this one today: The National Park Service announced that it would close Dupont Circle park during WorldPride because of “a history and pattern of destructive and disorderly behavior from unpermitted activities happening in the park during past DC Pride weekends.” (Washington Post)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser officially opened Mamie “Peanut” Johnson Plaza, the long-awaited replacement for “Dave Thomas Circle.” (Axios)
• Critics of Arlington’s failed streetcar project are taking not a little joy in DC’s failed streetcar project. (ARLnow)
• Traffic stops and searches of Latino drivers since Trump took office have increased dramatically in Loudoun County, where Sheriff Mike Chapman has long decried illegal immigration. (Virginia Mercury)
• Blind pedestrians sued the District, saying it “doesn’t provide enough working signals that make it safe for them to cross the street.” (Washington Post)
• The administration has fast-tracked the disposal of some federal properties in the area, including the Energy Department’s HQ on Independence Avenue. (WBJ)
• Maryland’s ban on AR-15s and similar rifles will remain in place for now. (Washington Post)
• More on the fight at the National Zoo that prompted police to issue a shelter-in-place warning. (WUSA9)
• The FBI says Devonne Brown, a teacher at DC’s IDEA Public Charter School, solicited nude photos from a 15-year-old. (NBC4 Washington)
• Darrell Moore was released from prison in 2020, where he was serving a sentence for a murder he committed as a 16-year-old. Eight months later, he shot and killed 37-year-old Julius Hayes. Moore got 60 years Friday. (Washington Post)
• Police say a 42-year-old Arlington man hit another car on Route 50, tried to climb a fence to get away, gave up and returned to his car, and spat on cops who subsequently interviewed him. They say he had an open container of alcohol in the car, too. (ARLnow)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical” opens at Signature Theatre.
• See six in-development Pride Plays at Woolly Mammoth.
• Tennis plays a farewell tour show at the Anthem.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
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.
