Good morning. A pretty good day awaits: Sunny with a high around 84 and bearable humidity. A low near 64 tonight.
Sports this weekend: The Nationals are at the Giants all weekend. The Mystics will visit the Minnesota Lynx Friday and the Dallas Wings on Sunday. The Washington Spirit will visit Gotham FC in New Jersey on Saturday. D.C. United will visit the New England Revolution on Saturday.
You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Marcia Bassett and Chuck Bettis, “Sunview.” This weekend’s recommendation comes courtesy of Richmond music connoisseur John Rickman, who suggests that on this Sunday you: “Immerse yourself in a soundscape full of surprises and wonder when these two experienced improvisers take the Rhizome stage. The event also serves as a homecoming for Bettis, late of All Scars and Meta-matics.” Thanks, John!
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:
“We have to run D.C.”: Federal law enforcement officers led by the US Park Police will have a presence on DC streets, the White House announced, with President Trump saying, “We have a capital that’s very unsafe.” The administration said officers from the US Capitol Police, the ATF, the DEA and other federal authorities would patrol beginning Thursday night. But during a two-hour tour of the District last night, the Associated Press found “there was no overt or visible law enforcement presence” other than the DC police. (AP) US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro asked members of the DC Council to “amend policies focused on second chances for criminal offenders as the Trump administration accuses the liberal city of being soft on crime.” (Washington Post) And yet: The Department of Justice hired Jared Wise, who shouted “kill ’em” as rioters attacked law enforcement officials on January 6. (NPR) Here’s what the numbers say about crime trends in the District. (NBC4 Washington)
Skin in the game: Companies that make “skin substitute” bandages circumvented a Biden-era plan to limit Medicare reimbursements after donations to the Trump-focused PAC MAGA Inc. (NYT)
Personnel matters: The FBI fired Brian Driscoll, its “accidental” one-time acting director, as well as Washington field office head Steven J. Jensen, as the administration’s purge continued. (NYT) The FAA plans to hire more than 9,000 air traffic controllers by the end of 2028, but retirements among existing controllers and the arduous training required of aspiring ones mean the agency will be short of personnel even if it hits that goal. (Washington Post) An Education Department office charged with resolving complaints about student loans “has a backlog of more than 27,000 complaints after losing nearly two-thirds of its staff.” (NBC News)
The screws turn: Trump announced he would retool the 2030 Census, something he’s unable to do under the Constitution. (NPR) The administration will gather demographic data on college applicants “to scrutinize whether universities are giving minorities preference in admissions.” (NYT) The administration announced new rules about grants that mean “all federal science research would need to be approved by a political appointee who may have no expertise in the relevant areas.” (Ars Technica)
Administration perambulation: Republicans aim to add more than a dozen seats to their majority in the House of Representatives in a bid to protect Trump during next year’s mid-term elections. And for Democrats, “there’s little they can do to soften this blow.” (Punchbowl News) The Air Force plans to “deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.” (AP) Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration would update climate reports that were already published, saying, “When you get into departments and look at stuff that’s there and you find stuff that’s objectionable, you want to fix it.” (CNN) Federal courts said they’d improve security following a cyberattack. (Politico) A much-denied meeting about the administration’s response to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal originally scheduled to take place at Vice President JD Vance‘s residence took place at the White House instead. (CNN) The administration doubled the bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, “accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the U.S. with fentanyl-laced cocaine.” (AP)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This 1939 Colonial-style house in Observatory Circle was transformed by WJ Development, which added custom finishes, a large roof deck, and a detached apartment that sits above a three-car garage. It’s listed at $3,499,999. See more of Lindsey Byman‘s picks for open houses this weekend.
Local news links:
• A PAC associated with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said Lieutenant Governor and current GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears “fought for our freedom overseas,” a claim Earle-Sears, a US Marine who served as an electrician and did not face combat, has not made. (NOTUS)
• Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy nominated Samuel Moki to lead the county’s Department of the Environment despite the fact that Moki was fired from the same department in 2014 for “gross negligence.” (Maryland Matters)
• It will cost $10 million to restore the Confederate monument Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered to be reinstalled at Arlington National Cemetery. (AP)
• Arlington is no longer on the Justice Department’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions.” (ARLnow)
• Neo-Nazi Brandon Russell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his part in an ill-fated plan to attack Maryland’s power grid. (NBC4 Washington)
• Five years ago, only one DC neighborhood had a median home price of $2 million. Now it has five. (UrbanTurf)
• Arlington native Zach Cregger wrote the new film “Weapons,” which opens today. (ARLnow)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Otakon opens at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Saturday: It’s the last day of the Howard County Fair.
Sunday: Bring a lawn chair and good vibes to Jazzy Sundays in Anacostia.
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. 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.
