Good morning. Hot. Humid. Thunderstorms. No end in sight. A high around 92 that will feel as hot as 102 today, with storms possible after 5 PM. Rain is likely tonight, with a low near 76. In sports, D.C. United will visit Charlotte this evening. 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:
Friendship, “Free Association.” This Philly band will bring its off-center country rock to Comet Ping Pong tonight alongside 2nd Grade and Washingtonian Today faves Dim Wizard.
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:
MAGA’s Epstein mess continues: House Speaker Mike Johnson broke with President Trump yesterday and called for the Department of Justice to release files relating to the disgraced, deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein. Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi “gave him ‘a very quick briefing’ on the Epstein documents before baselessly blaming previous Democratic administrations for creating the files.” (Washington Post) And yet: House Republicans blocked a second attempt by Democrats to force DOJ to release everything it has. (Axios) Democrats sense a rare opening. (Politico) GOP representative and Trump antagonist Thomas Massie “announced Tuesday he’d kickstart a longshot procedural maneuver to force a vote on releasing Jeffrey Epstein-related files.” (Politico) Trump said of Bondi: “Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release” and didn’t respond to a reporter’s question about whether she’d told him if his name appeared in the files. (ABC News) One fascinating facet of the fiasco is that “many of Trump’s very online MAGA supporters have always distrusted Bondi.” (Politico) Meanwhile: Metadata from video the DOJ and FBI released from surveillance video taken near Epstein’s cell on the night he died shows that nearly three minutes of recordings are missing. (Wired)
Inflation inflates: The Labor Department said inflation rose 2.7 percent in June over the same period a year ago, the measure’s highest level since February. Economists say tariffs are helping to drive the increase. (AP) The “Yale Budget Lab projects resulting price increases could amount to the equivalent of a $2,800 hit in yearly household income.” (WSJ) “Signs of accelerating price pressures will make it much more difficult for the central bank to restart interest rate cuts that have been on hold since January.” (NYT)
The legislative branch: The President encouraged state lawmakers in Texas to redraw congressional districts to favor the GOP, which has a narrow majority in the US House of Representatives. Democrats won’t have a lot of cards to play if they do. (AP) Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged Texas Democrats to think about walking out of a special session. (NYT) Meanwhile, a tie-splitting vote by Vice President JD Vance advanced a Senate bill that would rescind billions in foreign aid and federal support for public broadcasting. (Washington Post) Funding for PEPFAR will not be cut under the bill. (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Eric Schnabel, the COO of the National Institutes of Health, was fired on Monday “amid an investigation into a contract on autism and other topics that could have benefited his spouse.” (Washington Post) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the removal of 2,000 National Guard troops from L.A. (remember that whole thing?), with a spokesperson saying the lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding.” (Reuters) Hegseth reportedly got into a scrap earlier this year with a DOGE official over an incident that’s far too gothic to summarize in one sentence. (Washington Post) ICE attorneys on at least two occasions have hidden their names in court. (The Intercept) Trump accused US Senator Adam Schiff, a longtime foil, of mortgage fraud. (Washington Post) Trump claimed that his uncle taught the Unabomber. (The Independent) He also called for Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett to take IQ tests. (Daily Beast)
A report from a Canadian snack aisle, by Sylvie McNamara
This week, I’m visiting my family in Ontario—and the Canadians, as reported, are mad. The Trump administration has lately visited a barrage of economic and cultural indignities upon our northerly neighbors, to which Canadians have responded with a polite but firm nationalism and cries of “elbows up.” At the grocery store, I tried to put US-grown blueberries in the cart, and my dad physically removed them because “we don’t buy American anymore.” In our snacking, my sister and I have tried to fall in line. Yesterday, we grabbed a cornucopia of Canadian knockoffs: Whippets instead of Mallomars, Montellier instead of LaCroix, Crispers instead of Wheat Thins, and Leclerc Célébration cookies instead of Petit Écoliers. (We did buy a bag of Doritos because the maple leaf affixed to the shelf assured us that, despite the American brand, the chips were Canadian-made.) These snacks were universally good, except the Crispers, which were dreadful. (Wheat Thins are equally bad, to be fair, so Canadianness seems like a wash.) New York magazine has gently derided the boycott of US goods as “bespoke economic protectionism,” but what else is my family to do? Canadian snacking is nice; it tastes like salt, fat, sugar, and sovereignty.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Eleanor Holmes Norton has a challenger: DNC official Kinney Zalesne filed paperwork Monday to run for Norton’s seat.
• Florería Atlántico, a US outpost of a celebrated flower shop with a hidden bar, and Brasero Atlántico, an Argentinian restaurant, will open soon in Georgetown.
• Four Smithsonian museums on the Mall remained closed yesterday due to a problem with their air conditioning. (The institution’s website hasn’t yet been updated with info about today.)
• This Virginia wedding “radiated happiness and energy.”
Local news links:
• Trayon White won the special election to replace Trayon White on the DC Council. The once and future councilmember was expelled from the body in February after the feds accused him of taking bribes. (Washington Post) The DC Council “could vote to preemptively block White from taking office.” (Axios D.C.)
• Conventions are canceling plans to come to the DC area, which is “increasingly viewed from afar as a place where your event could be suddenly canceled by authorities or your keynote speaker could be detained at the airport.” (Politico)
• DC Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie introduced legislation that would allow self-driving cars and self-driving taxis. (WBJ)
• Police in Fairfax are looking for a man who violently beat a bus driver. (NBC4 Washington)
• A trial began Monday in the matter of a former Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School teacher who says in a lawsuit that the school’s principal falsely accused him of racism. (BethesdaToday)
• Teens in Laurel face a new summer curfew following incidents that include the tossing of fireworks. (WTOP)
• The Commanders will retire Art Monk‘s number. (NBC4 Washington)
• New research has yielded details about a Civil War encampment for Black soldiers on Columbia Pike. (ARLnow)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• Teddy Swims brings his soul-stirring songs to the Anthem for the first of two sold-out shows.
• It’s time for the Congressional Women’s Softball Game.
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.
