Good morning. More swell weather awaits you, with clear skies today and a high around 78. A low near 60 overnight. The Nationals will visit the Yankees 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.
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I can’t stop listening to:
3L3D3P, “rpa.” I can’t pretend that I totally understand what’s going on here, but this tune is intriguing! 3L3D3P plays Songbyrd this evening with Gabby Start and Izzy Camina.
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 non-administration news you might have blocked out:
Taylor hitch: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement. (NYT) Kelce’s father, Ed Kelce, says the couple have been engaged for two weeks. (WEWS) The site of question-popping is still not public knowledge, but TMZ believes it took place at Kelce’s estate near Kansas City. (TMZ) Kelce designed Swift’s engagement ring—or, if you work for the New York Post, her “old mine brilliant-cut sparkler”—which could have cost as much as $1 million. (Page Six) The DC Public Library was reminded of library holds coming through. (DCPL/X) President Trump wished the couple well, despite posting recently that Swift was “no longer hot.” (US Weekly)
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Tired of binning: Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in DC may be costing more than the probable price of Taylor Swift’s engagement ring every day—but at least Lafayette Square will be clean as a whistle. WTTG observed Guard troops picking up trash in the park near the White House yesterday morning. (Fox 5 DC) They couldn’t hire any local civilians to do this work? (Martin Austermuhle/X) Speaking before citizens in Anacostia, DC police commanders acknowledged that Trump’s law-enforcement surge was alienating community members. (AP) Case in point? A mural, spotted in Anacostia, that depicts Trump aide Stephen Miller getting hit in the head with a sandwich. (Washingtonian Problems/X) Trump called for the death penalty for all murders inside DC and said he planned to extend his 30-day takeover of the District’s police force, though it’s not clear yet how he’d accomplish that. (Washington Post) Officers from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service—which, and I am not joking, trains at Le Diplomate—have hit the streets with other federal cops during Trump’s surge. (NYT) Maybe the US military can clean up the river the next time Dave Matthews plays there: Trump said he has “the right to do anything I want to do” while he mused about sending Guard troops to Chicago. (NYT)
Gov, actually: Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor Trump claimed to have fired over an allegation (from his administration) of mortgage fraud, said she would sue to keep her job. (NYT) The Fed said it would abide by any court ruling. (CNBC)
Administration perambulation: FEMA suspended about 30 of the employees who signed a letter to Congress about the possible effects of Trump’s cuts on their ability to conduct disaster relief. (NYT) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to move some agency personnel from the Mall to Navy Yard. It’s not clear why. (Politico) DOGE personnel “uploaded a copy of a crucial Social Security database in June to a vulnerable cloud server.” (NYT) A federal judge “threw out the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Maryland’s entire federal bench in an emphatic ruling.” (AP) Election conspiracy theorist Heather Honey will “help oversee the nation’s election infrastructure” at DHS. (ProPublica) Trump’s cabinet members spent hours yesterday praising him on television during an epic cabinet meeting. (NYT) “President Trump’s bruised hand and his apparent use of makeup to cover the discolored patch of skin have renewed attention to his health in general.” (Stat) Does this mean Be Best is over? First lady Melania Trump plans some sort of AI initiative. (New York Post)
This has nothing to do with the administration, but I think it’s important to bring to your attention: “A case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in a person in Maryland who returned to the U.S. after traveling to El Salvador, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday evening.” (Axios)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• “Higher prices, fewer guests, scared staff”: Restaurateurs talk about what’s really happening inside DC restaurants during Trump’s crackdown on DC.
• Fiona Apple’s first new music in years was inspired by her work with a local activist group.
Local news links:
• George Mason University’s president, Gregory Washington, will not apologize to the administration for its hiring practices. (NBC4 Washington)
• Here’s the car design Metro riders chose for the new 8000-series fleet in a poll. (PoPville)
• A stolen car with four teenagers inside struck another car in Seat Pleasant, killing a woman and injuring a little boy. (NBC4 Washington)
• An AI school with no teachers and a $65,000-per-year price tag is coming to Northern Virginia. (Washington Post)
• Montgomery County has set up a job center for laid-off feds. (WBJ)
• Joker, a Labrador retriever, is the Arlington County Fire Department’s newest deputy. (ARLnow)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• The DC Jazz Festival kicks off today and lasts through the weekend.
• Volunteer to help organize the DC Punk Archive at the MLK Library.
• “The Inheritance”—a two-part play about a group of young gay men in New York—opens at Round House Theatre.
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.
