Good morning. Gusty today thanks to Hurricane Erin’s journey off in the Atlantic, with a high of about 76. A low near 64 overnight. The Nationals host the Mets again this evening. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
This is, by my count, the 150th edition of this newsletter/morning post. Thank you so much for reading. My hope when we launched this product in January was that we could help make the daily firehose of news a little more manageable for people in this area. I’ve heard from so many people who enjoy it, and now more than 150,000 people receive Washingtonian Today as an email newsletter every weekday. If you’d like to join them, you can get a free subscription here.
I can’t stop listening to:
TOB, “For Da City.” TOB and Pressure Band will perform this evening from 6 PM to 8:30 PM outdoors at 14th and U streets, Northwest, as Yaddiya hosts a special Defend the District concert and rally, with speakers including DC Council member Robert White Jr., Kelsye Adams, and Tony Lewis Jr. “We’re all a community, we’re all a society,” Yaddiya tells Washingtonian Today. Of the federal forces now in the District, he says, “If they’re not going to be the solution then we’ve got to be the solution.”
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:
Indignation’s capital: Vice President JD Vance was booed and heckled at Union Station during a photo op appearance Wednesday, where he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and President Trump‘s aide Stephen Miller bought burgers for National Guard troops at Shake Shack. Chants of “Free DC” “drowned out much of what Vance, Hegseth and Miller said as they tried to speak to reporters.” (ABC News) There was, uh, another chant, too. (Complex) Vance was able to make the point that the administration’s takeover in DC could be a model in other US cities, while Miller claimed the protesters were “stupid White hippies who all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old.” (Washington Post) Here’s what the booing sounded like. (Washingtonian Problems) Miller “declared that the jeering would directly result in the administration’s throwing more resources” at Trump’s crackdown. (NYT) Flashback: Vance also got booed when he visited the Kennedy Center in March. (Washingtonian)
Crackdown chronicles: A 14-ton military vehicle struck a civilian SUV in Capitol Hill early Wednesday, an event that seems somewhat at odds with Trump’s goal of making DC safer, and “highlights the challenges that will go with deploying armored combat vehicles on the District’s streets as part of Trump’s takeover of city law enforcement.” The civilian driver was removed by firefighters and was treated for a minor head laceration. (Washington Post) People in Columbia Heights cheered as federal police left following what appears to have been a deployment of federal forces to stop someone from avoiding paying their Metro fare. (Zeteo) Twenty members of the Judge Advocate General corps will be detailed to the DC US Attorney’s office next week to work on misdemeanor cases. The USAO in DC has been depleted of personnel after the administration fired prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases. (NBC News) While the administration has framed the DC takeover as a crime-fighting measure, it is in effect another crackdown on immigration. (WSJ) 79 percent of people in Washington oppose the takeover. (Politico) Meanwhile: ICE “is seeking to spend millions of dollars on SUVs and custom, gold-detailed vehicle wraps emblazoned with the words “DEFEND THE HOMELAND” to aid in Trump’s crackdown. (Washington Post)
F’ed: Trump demanded that Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook resign, claiming she might have committed mortgage fraud. (NYT) “Mortgage fraud” claims are becoming one of the administration’s favorite tools for pursuing its enemies; it has made similar allegations against US Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. (Axios) Cook said she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.” (CNBC) “Trump and his allies are trying to establish the predicate to fire Fed governors for cause so that they can put in place leadership who will deliver the looser monetary policy Trump demands — and act with less independence from the president’s desires going forward.” (Axios)
Administration perambulation: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard plans to cut ODNI’s staff in half, consolidate some operations, and shift others around to different agencies. (ABC News) DOJ is “demanding that hospitals turn over a wide range of sensitive information related to medical care for young transgender patients.” (Washington Post) The Department of Education has “quietly rescinded long-standing guidance that directed schools to accommodate students who are learning English.” (Washington Post) Texas lawmakers approved a Trump-approved plan to gerrymander the state so that Republicans would get more seats in the US House of Representatives. (Texas Tribune) Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “is pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use an influx of funds to buy, own and operate its own fleet of airplanes to deport immigrants.” (NBC News) The law firms Paul Weiss and Kirkland & Ellis are “working on a range of matters for the Commerce Department” as a result of their settlements with the administration. (NYT) Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff “delivered a Russian medal to the grieving family of an American who was killed fighting for Russia in 2024.” (CNN) Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced more sanctions on members of the International Criminal Court. (Axios) Trump aides are already “lining up cushy lobbying gigs.” (Politico) Kilmar Abrego Garcia‘s attorneys asked courts to dismiss the administration’s case against their client, saying he’s been prosecuted “because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights.” (HuffPost) Trump’s plans for a new ballroom at the White House have ended White House tours for the time being. (Washington Post) Meme coins flogged by Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, have lost almost all of their value. (TNR)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
The city of Madurai is one of the oldest settlements in India, famous for dazzling pyramidal temples, a flower market, and centuries of Tamil literary history. It’s also a capital of regional cuisine, which is rendered faithfully at Madurai Cafe, a subterranean cafeteria just off Fairfax’s old Main Street. There’s kothu parotta, a stir fry of shredded flaky flatbread and eggs that feels like a cousin to chilaquiles, matzah brei, or fitfit. Squidgy kal dosa with peanut chutney are particular to Tamil cooking, as is warmly spiced chicken sukka, a dry curry served with Indian bay leaves protruding from it. The cafe is just two weeks old, but a full menu reveals it will soon serve jigarthanda (Madurai’s signature almond gum-sasparilla beverage) and a long list of other Tamil specialties. Clearly, there’s a market: the cramped little place was already packed with families on a recent weeknight. (4008-A University Drive, Fairfax.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Eun Yang, Olivia Igbokwe-Curry, and Brian Vetter are among the trendsetters on our 2025 list of Style Setters: DC’s most fashionable people.
• The Buenos Aires-inspired Flor. Coffee + Books just opened in Georgetown.
Local news links:
• Federal agents and DC police arrested a man on the Mall yesterday “as he cried and screamed for help.” (NBC4 Washington)
• Arlington artist Sushmita Mazumdar and members of Arlington Presbyterian Church are placing “stumbling stickers” to mark spots where ICE has detained county residents. (ARLnow)
• Bob McDonnell, a former Virginia governor with a colorful legal history, will be a visiting professor at George Mason University. (Northern Virginia Magazine) Flashback: “The Chef Who Brought Down Bob McDonnell Tells All” (Washingtonian, 2014)
• Someone infected with measles traveled through Dulles on August 12. (NBC4 Washington)
• A Navy pilot was rescued off the Virginia coast yesterday after his F/A 18-E Super Hornet crashed. (WTOP)
• Alexandria’s public schools system will face a $20 million shortfall from federal funds the administration says it will withhold because of its refusal to change its policies about which bathrooms students must use. (Alexandria Times)
• Arlington students say some of their classmates have ordered magnets to try to defeat the pouches in which their phones must be stored under the public schools’ new no-phones policy. (ARLnow)
• Montgomery County Public Schools says it will increase the pace of background checks on employees after the county’s inspector general found that more than half its employees’ criminal background checks were out of date. (WTOP)
• A person died after falling from a building in Ballston yesterday. (ARLnow)
• Virginia Wesleyan University will be renamed Batten University after a family that has given millions to the Virginia Beach school. (Washington Post)
Thursday’s event picks:
• James Taylor performs at Wolf Trap.
• Test your spelling skills while sipping drinks at Prima DC, and you might score a free bar tab.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
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.
