Good morning. Clouds and heat increase through the day, with a high around 87 and thunderstorms possible after 5 PM. Rain chances continue overnight, with a low around 66. The Mystics will host the Phoenix Mercury 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:
Kruder & Dorfmeister, “Speechless.” These Viennese downtempo legends, who say DC is one of their favorite cities, will play their 1998 remix album “The K&D Sessions” live at the Howard Theatre Sunday.
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:
Make some noise: The White House arranged for a military flyover of Capitol Hill that amazingly coincided with a press conference where survivors of abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein—the disgraced, deceased financier whose connections to President Trump have bedeviled his administration for months—implored Congress to release all the files from the government’s investigations. (USA Today) Two more Republicans would need to sign on to a discharge petition co-sponsored by US Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, to compel such a release. Hopes that Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina might be one of those Republicans appeared to evaporate after she issued a defense of Trump. (The New Republic) Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she would use the immunity granted to her by the Constitution to reveal names from the investigation on the House floor. (Axios) The GOP-controlled House of Representatives did pass a symbolic—some might say meaningless—resolution affirming the Oversight Committee’s investigation into the case. (Politico) Trump called the controversy over the files a “Democrat hoax that never ends.” (ABC News)
Shoot first: The US military could have stopped a boat officials suspected of carrying drugs, but on Trump’s orders it destroyed the vessel instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday. (Washington Post) “Of a piece with the deployment of troops to U.S. cities, the strike is an unnecessary and performative use of the U.S. military—a use that is legally fraught at best.” (Just Security) Speaking of which: The administration will likely extend the deployment of National Guard troops in DC until the end of the year. (Washington Post)
Table of suppress: Trump officials have batted around the idea of giving New York Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa administration jobs if they agree to drop out of this year’s mayoral race. That could theoretically make it easier for Andrew Cuomo to beat Zohran Mamdani. (NYT) Adams was reportedly offered a job at HUD. (Politico) Both men say they won’t quit the race. (The City)
Vax checkers: California, Oregon, and Washington state announced a public health alliance to counter the administration’s new restrictions on vaccines. (AP) Residents of Colorado, for instance, won’t need a prescription for a COVID shot. (The Colorado Sun) By contrast, Florida will end vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: A federal judge said the Trump administration had no right to freeze funding to Harvard. The White House says will it appeal the ruling. (Harvard Crimson) The administration will ask the Supreme Court to affirm Trump’s right to impose tariffs after a lower court said he could not do so. (NBC News) The US Navy plans to reinstate the original retirement rank of Ronny Jackson, the White House physician during Trump’s first term who was demoted following an investigation into his workplace conduct. (AP) Flashback: The 2021 report found that Jackson, now a Republican Congressman from Texas, “berated subordinates in the White House medical unit, ‘made sexual and denigrating statements’ about a female subordinate, consumed alcohol inappropriately with subordinates, and consumed the sleep drug Ambien while on duty as the president’s physician.” (Washington Post) The administration is taking further steps to fight wind power, a peculiar obsession of Trump’s. (NYT) The Pentagon canceled a planned visit by US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency after Laura Loomer complained about him online. (NYT) The White House will host tech CEOs including Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai tonight at the renovated Rose Garden, which is now a kind of patio. (The Hill) The Smithsonian Institution says it will police its own content for partisanship, partly rebuffing an administration attempt to oversee its displays. (NYT) The White House added Trump’s glowering headshot to its LinkedIn profile, which makes it appear as if former officials under presidents Biden and Obama worked for Trump instead. (Axios)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
While writing a Hidden Eats column on the excellent Baek Ban, I happened on a cozy, well-decorated Japanese curry restaurant in the same strip mall. The specialty at Karé Bar is the namesake Japanese curry—that idiosyncratic, mild roux-based sauce with roots in India by way of Britain—made with your choice of crispy katsu, tofu and vegetables, shrimp, or beef. The comfy ambiance and the curry are worth the trip, but based on what I sampled, I’m excited to try more dishes from the menu full of Western-influenced Japanese comfort food: think creamy miso-mushroom udon pasta and hamburger steak in gravy over rice.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The Kennedy Center named Stephen Nakagawa its new director of dance after he complained about “radical leftist ideologies in ballet.” He inherits a program beset by cratering ticket sales as local balletomanes recoil from Trump’s takeover of the arts complex.
• Natural wines, “fun, good drinking food,” plenty of space for walk-ins: Maison Bar à Vin, a new Paris-inspired wine bar in Adams Morgan, will open next weekend.
• Book now to enjoy these four exclusive September travel deals for Washingtonian readers.
Local news links:
• House Republicans are mulling “legislation that would overhaul criminal justice policies in D.C. and further restrict home rule.” (Washington Post)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said her order that extends cooperation with the feds will help end the occupation of DC by federal forces. One council member called it a plan to “capitulate in advance.” (WTOP)
• Amy Sherald‘s show “American Sublime” will come to the Baltimore Museum of Art this November. The artist moved the show from the National Portrait Gallery over concerns about censorship. (Baltimore Banner)
• Hardware stores are struggling to keep DC flags in stock as residents fly them as a sign of resistance. (Washington Post)
• The fence around the Naval Observatory—home to Vice President JD Vance—is now covered in some sort of black material. (PoPville) Flashback: Authorities closed a toddler playground near Vance’s old house in Del Ray when he was a candidate. (Washingtonian)
• DC cops will get a 13 percent raise. (WTOP)
• Maryland Governor Wes Moore says he paid for himself and his wife, Dawn Moore, to vacation in Italy with George Clooney. (Maryland Matters)
• Fairfax police arrested a woman they say stole more than $10,000 worth of Ninja Sushi machines from Target and other retailers. (WTOP)
• Finally, in an intriguing report for news sickos like the guy who writes Washingtonian Today, former US Representative Madison Cawthorn hopes to return to Congress and DC. (Axios)
Thursday’s event picks:
• The Goons, Tosser, and Keep Your Secrets will rock the MLK Library’s rooftop.
• Take a guided nature walk through Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens to spot lilies and lotuses.
• National Gallery Nights kicks off with a Back to School theme.
See lots more picks for Thursday 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.
