News & Politics

The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk

This is Washingtonian Today.

Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.

Good morning. Showers and thunderstorms are on the horizon today, along with sticky highs near 89. The Nats will play the Detroit Tigers at home this evening.

Washingtonian Today editor Andrew Beaujon is on vacation, so I’ll be taking over until he gets back on July 11. In the meantime, you can find me on Bluesky, I’m @kmcorliss.19 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.

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A great book on my nightstand:

Catalina” by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. This short novel follows a year in the life of its titular character, an undocumented Harvard senior who moved from Ecuador as a young child, as she navigates the upper echelons of Cambridge society and prepares to graduate into the great big unknown. Set against the backdrop of pre-DREAM Act America, the writing is chaotic, devastating, hysterical, and jarringly topical. I read it in one sitting last weekend at a DC public pool; the sunburn was worth it.

Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:

Vote-a-drama: The Senate has now been voting on amendments to Trump’s big, beautiful bill for more than 20 hours. (Politico) Majority Leader John Thune is struggling to drum up the 51 votes he needs to bring the legislation to a final floor vote. (ABC) These are the Republican holdouts to watch. (Politico) Restrictions on Medicaid and food stamps, upping the debt ceiling: A look inside the Senate’s updated version of the bill, some of which is still subject to change. (CBS News) Plus, more on how the legislation weakens America’s social safety net. (Axios) Senate Republicans say they’re confused about how an excise tax on solar and wind projects wound up in the proposed bill; as Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters, it’s as if the language was “airdropped” into the bill text. No Republican has taken credit for the proposal, and some are expressing their opposition. (NBC News) 

We are never ever getting back together: Yesterday, Elon Musk wrote on X that Republicans who support the budget “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” saying he’d fund the campaigns of their primary challengers—a swift change of tune for the billionaire, who recently said he’d be stepping back from political spending. Musk has also promised to establish a new “America Party” if the bill passes. (NYT) Trump hit back on Truth Social, writing that DOGE should take a “good, hard, look” at Musk’s companies’ subsidies. (Axios)

Administration perambulation: Trump will join Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Everglades today to tour a new immigration detention center, tastefully known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” (CNN) US District Judge Deborah Boardman asked Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg whether the administration plans to deport babies whose citizenship is voided under Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship; Rosenberg said no, not within the next four weeks. Boardman has given the Justice Department until this afternoon to “submit a written summary of what the administration believes it ‘can and can’t do’ ” given the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling to restrict injunctions on the executive order. (AP) Harvard is at risk of losing more federal funding after an investigation by the administration found that the university “has been in some cases deliberately indifferent, and in others has been a willful participant in anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students, faculty, and staff.” (NPR) Trump is dropping his federal lawsuit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer. He’s refiling at the state level. (Washington Post) Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, along with Bono, thanked outgoing USAID workers for their civil service in prerecorded messages. (NYT) This French university is attracting “scientific refugees” from America. (Politico) Andrei Cherny, former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, is rallying fellow “Democratic thinkers” to develop a strategic agenda for the party’s next presidential nominee; he’s calling the plan—get this—Project 2029. (NYT) Trump implores “the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be” to improve the company’s service. (Truth Social)

How DC’s attorney general got so good at double Dutch, by Franziska Wild:

Brian Schwalb at Open Streets DC, June 28, 2025. Photo courtesy the Office of Attorney General.

First he bunny hopped. Then he crisscrossed. Then he twirled. Over the weekend, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, clad in a classic “dad fit” (neon orange T-shirt, jorts, and chunky grey sneakers) impressed many Washingtonians with his double Dutch jump-roping skills at Open Streets DC on Capitol Hill. (A video shot by @longwalksdc was shared on Washingtonianprobs, where it racked up more than 25,000 likes.) But we were curious, how did the attorney general get so good at double Dutching? 

“When I would go to the rec center for summer when I was a little kid, one of the activities was jumping rope and doing double Dutch, and I learned it as a little kid,” Schwalb told Washingtonian. “Probably alongside doing things like, you know, lip syncing and tie dye and other things that you do as a kid at a rec center.” The recreation center where Schwalb learned is in Montgomery County.

Read more of Franzi’s interview with Schwalb here.

Recently on Washingtonian dot com:

• Don’t miss our top 100 reasons to love DC. (Yes, Ovi is No. 1.)

Washingtonian readers can take advantage of these four summer travel deals.

Local news links:

• The Washington Commanders treated several DC Council members to dinner at Georgetown’s Cafe Milano last night, as the team scrambles to garner speedy approval for the RFK Stadium redevelopment project. (WJLA)

•  An errant windmill blade disrupted traffic along I-70 in Hagerstown yesterday morning, when the tractor-trailer carrying it overturned. (WTOP)

• Starting today, DC’s hourly minimum wage will rise from $17.50 to $17.95. (WUSA9)

• The DC Housing Authority has reached a $20,000 settlement with its former director Brenda Donald, who in exchange agreed “not to disparage an agency long criticized over its performance serving some of the city’s neediest residents.” (Washington Post)

• This Chevy Chase neighborhood celebrated Christmas in June for nine-year-old Kasey Zachmann, who is fighting brain cancer. (Bethesda Magazine)

• Virginia’s first Bucc-ee’s location has officially opened its doors. (WJLA)

• Five Guys has returned to its original Columbia Pike location, which closed in 1998—four years before the restaurant began franchising. (ARLnow)

•  An arrest has been made in the Laurel shooting that injured former NFL player and celebrity chef Tobias Dorzon. (WTOP)

Tuesday’s event picks:

Head to the National Mall for the first day of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival—this year’s theme, “Youth and the Future of Culture,” celebrates the artistic contributions of young people.

Catch opening night of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Duel Reality, a circus-inspired retelling of Romeo and Juliet

The aptly-named trio Folk Music will play live at Rhizome DC.

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.

Kate Corliss
Junior Staff Writer