Good morning. Hot today with a foul, enveloping mugginess and showers and storms likely this afternoon. A high around 91. Rain likely overnight, with a low near 76. Here’s a list of places where you can get a delicious frozen cocktail and dream of dry skin. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. Programming note: I leave for vacation tomorrow and will return on July 11. Kate Corliss will take the wheel while I’m gone.
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I can’t stop listening to:
504 Plan, “Bleeding Bureaucracy.” Steamy local punk sounds like just the thing on a hot, hot night. 504 Plan play Black Cat this evening with the Don Z Scheme.
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:
Spending time: The Senate will vote on President Trump‘s budget bill today as Republicans try to meet a self-imposed July 4 deadline. (NYT) Here’s a look at what’s in the bill. (Washington Post) The legislation would institute “the biggest reduction of funding for the federal safety net since at least the 1990s, targeting more than $1 trillion in social spending.” (Washington Post) Republicans waved “a $3.8 trillion magic wand over their tax-and-spending megabill, declaring that their extensions of expiring tax cuts have no effect on the federal budget.” (WSJ) The Congressional Budget Office took a slightly different view, saying the legislation “would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion.” (AP) US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he wouldn’t seek reelection next year after he voted against bringing the bill to the Senate floor, angering Trump. (Washington Post) Tillis said his colleagues’ support of the bill would “hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.” (Politico) Here’s who’s interested in his seat. (Politico)
Obliteration update: Iranian officials said recent US attacks on their country’s nuclear facilities were “less devastating than they had expected,” according to people who heard intercepted communications. (Washington Post) Rafael Mariano Grossi, the UN’s top nuclear weapons inspector, said Iran “could be enriching uranium in a ‘matter of months.'” (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Canada said it would rescind a tax on digital services after Trump declared an end to trade talks because of it. (CNBC) Trump said his administration “is working to develop a temporary pass for immigrants” in industries like agriculture. (NBC News) Elon Musk “has been humiliated” by his breakup with Trump and is “going to do everything to damage the president,” his former friend Philip Low, who fell out with Musk in 2021, said in an interview. (Politico) The State Department hopes to deny British rap duo Bob Vylan a visa after they led an anti-IDF chant at a music festival in England. (The Daily Wire)
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert:
Chef Elias Taddesse has been brilliantly imbuing things like burgers and mac and cheese with Ethiopian flavors since he opened his burger place, Mélange, and his fried chicken shop, Doro Soul Food. Now, he’s consolidated both concepts into Mélange Foods, an arty new space right around the corner from the 9:30 Club. Also on the menu: tacos on housemade, black-cumin-studded corn tortillas. My favorite is filled with hunks of Atlantic cod dredged in a batter that incorporates the flavors of shiro (the chickpea stew) and then fried until crunchy and spooned with tomatillo sauce. I can’t think of a better way to pre-game a show than those tacos, an outdoor bar stool, and a berbere margarita. (2108 Eighth St., NW.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• DNC Chair Ken Martin talks about how important food assistance and Medicaid were to him growing up.
• Every bus line in DC changed over the weekend.
Local news links:
• The DC Council will consider a rule change tomorrow that would allow it to “quickly expel Trayon White” should the former councilmember win reelection next month to the seat he was ejected from earlier this year following bribery allegations. (Tom Sherwood/X) White has barely campaigned for the seat, and yet his opponents are hoping to “forge a path to victory without risking splitting the anti-White vote.” (Washington Post)
• University of Virginia President James Ryan resigned this weekend under pressure from the Trump administration. (NYT)
• DOGE’s cuts have hit the private sector—job listings at federal contractors have “plummeted.” (Axios)
• James Walkinshaw won this past weekend’s Democratic primary to replace the late US Representative Gerry Connolly. (Washington Post) He’ll face Republican Stewart Whitson. (WUSA9) Democrats are favored in the race. (WTOP) Don Beyer announced he would seek reelection. (ARLnow)
• Washington Post journalist Tom LeGro was arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse materials. The Post, citing the “severity of these allegations,” placed LeGro on leave. (WTOP)
• The DC Council moved closer to repealing Initiative 82. (WBJ)
• Pamela Alma Weymouth writes that her grandmother Katharine Graham “risked everything to stand up to a corrupt president” and that Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who bought the paper from the family in 2013, “is tearing down the very newspaper she defended.” (The Nation)
• Authorities say the guy who allegedly did doughnuts on the National Mall caused $10,000 in damage. (NBC4 Washington)
• An Amazon van burst into flames in Arlington. (ABC7)
• Here’s video of DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb‘s impressive jumprope skills. (Washingtonian Problems)
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.
