Good morning. Sunny with a high of 84 today. Not much to complain about! A low around 62 overnight. The Washington Spirit will visit Angel City FC in Los Angeles this evening. Here at home, DC Power FC will play Brooklyn FC at Audi Field. 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:
Talking Heads, “Slippery People (Live).” Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison will host a showing of the band’s 1984 concert film “Stop Making Sense” at the Lincoln Theatre tonight.
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:
Disturbing pâté emerges: “I’m very glad to see that America’s broadcasters are standing up to serve the interests of their community,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr told Sean Hannity last night.“We don’t just have this progressive foie gras coming out from New York and Hollywood.” Carr’s forcemeat analogy came as he and the Fox News personality celebrated ABC’s decision to yank Jimmy Kimmel‘s late night talk show indefinitely following Carr’s suggestion that his agency could force Disney, which owns ABC, to punish the comic for saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” (NYT) President Trump, in Britain for a state visit, celebrated the decision and called on NBC to fire other late night hosts who have criticized him. (CNN) Disney, which owns ABC, reportedly “sees a path to the show potentially returning in the next several days.” (WSJ) Broadcasting giant Nexstar, which owns WDCW (branded DC News Now) locally, needs FCC approval to purchase Tegna, a fellow broadcasting giant based in Tysons, which owns WUSA. Nexstar and Baltimore-based broadcasting giant Sinclair both announced Wednesday that their stations wouldn’t carry Kimmel’s show. Sinclair, which owns WJLA locally, said it would only reinstate the program if Kimmel made a “meaningful donation” to Kirk’s family and to his group Turning Point USA. (Deadline)
This isn’t the first time a media giant has bowed to Trump: CBS canceled Stephen Colbert‘s show in July. Paramount, CBS’s owner, paid the President $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit he’d brought over a “60 Minutes” segment he claimed was “deceptively edited” that same month. ABC paid Trump $16 million to settle another lawsuit late last year. He sued the Wall Street Journal after it reported on a letter he appears to have sent former pal Jeffrey Epstein. Trump also recently filed another flimsy suit against the New York Times, whose lawyers said the action “lacks any legitimate legal claims.” Onion honcho Ben Collins argued last night that these capitulations could present an opportunity to build an alternate media business, one that doesn’t depend on the government’s approval to thrive.
More Kirk reaction: Trump once again said he would designate Antifa—a group that doesn’t exist in any legally meaningful sense—as a “major terrorist organization” and would encourage investigations of groups he claims fund it. (CNN) The Pentagon has fired or disciplined troops it considers to have disparaged Kirk. (Politico) US Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas said that trans people—who many on the MAGA right have assigned ambient blame for Kirk’s death—”need to be placed in institutions and barred from the internet.” (Talking Points Memo) An effort in Congress to censure US Representative Ilhan Omar over characterizations of posts she made about Kirk failed after some Republicans refused to get on board. (Politico)
Let’s talk about the nation’s health: Former CDC head Susan Monarez testified in Congress yesterday that she was fired “because she refused to cede to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s demands to pre-approve vaccine recommendations for the public and fire career scientists.” (NPR) US Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma accused Monarez of lying, citing a recording of a meeting with Kennedy he later clarified does not exist. (PBS News) US Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said yesterday that if a panel Kennedy vacated and restocked with people who share his skepticism of vaccines were to recommend changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, “Americans should not have confidence in their decisions.” Major insurers signaled they would cover such jabs, too. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: The Federal Reserve announced it would cut interest rates and said the US labor market was cooling. (NBC News) The Department of Education announced it would partner with conservative organizations like Turning Point USA and Moms for Liberty “to present educational programming about patriotism, liberty and what it described as American values” for the 250th anniversary of the US’s founding. (Washington Post) Democrats in Congress released their own funding proposal to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month. (Politico) A jury in Los Angeles acquitted Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was charged with assaulting a federal agent during the Trump administration’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles earlier this year. They were apparently unpersuaded by testimony from top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino. (LAT) Pentagon lawyers and other Defense Department officials have raised concerns about the administration’s extrajudicial strikes on people in boats it says are transporting drugs. (WSJ) The administration’s wars on fentanyl and illegal immigration have helped make cocaine cheaper and boosted the fortunes of Mexican kingpin Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera. (WSJ) Trump claimed at a state dinner last night that he was the first US President to visit Windsor Castle. (Daily Beast) Melania Trump‘s hat made a splash. (Defector)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
In a simple, well-designed space in an industrial section of Silver Spring, El Viejo Central American Kitchen caters to a busy weekday crowd with pitch-perfect pupusas and affordable Salvadoran breakfasts. But the daytime-only eatery is also a treasure trove of lesser-known dishes from the rest of Central America: a Nicaraguan fritanga plate with gallo pinto, fried cheese, plantain strips, and cabbage salad; the chuchito de pollo, a stout Guatemalan-style chicken tamal; or the refried bean-filled tamal pisque. It’s one of the most casually confident and deft Central American kitchens in town. (9224 Warren Street, Silver Spring.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Howard classics professor Carolivia Herron‘s 1991 novel “Thereafter Johnnie” became a cult classic despite going out of print. This week, it will finally be reissued.
• Museums, concerts, books: Our fall arts preview is here!
• The Jewish High Holidays are nearly upon us. Here’s where you can find feasts for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Local news links:
• The House took aim at DC’s already limited self-rule, passing bills that “roll back police chase restrictions and eliminate the already minimal say the city has in the selecting local judges.” (Washington Post)
• The DC Council approved a deal that will bring the Washington Commanders back to DC. (Washington Post) The $3.7 billion deal could lead to a new stadium opening in 2030. (Axios D.C.)
• U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh “questioned whether prosecutors are making charging decisions before cases are properly investigated and vetted” as he dismissed two more assault cases at the request of US Attorney Jeanine Pirro‘s office. (NBC4 Washington)
• Michael Redmond agreed to pay the District $259,294 for taking a job in a Rhode Island school while he claimed to work as an assistant principal at Kramer Middle School in DC. (Washington Post)
• Hagerty’s “Cars at the Capitol” exhibition was canceled after a worker was killed installing a car painted by Andy Warhol on the Mall. (Washington Post)
• Yet another satirical statue of Trump has appeared on the Mall. (Washingtonian Problems via Instagram)
• Mike Pence got a new job. (Northern Virginia Magazine)
• Ted Leonsis said he wants to buy D.C. United and the Washington Nationals. (Greg Rosenstein via X)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Kendra Morris plays DC9.
• Four new exhibitions open at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at GW.
• It’s the 58th birthday of the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, and you can celebrate with a late-night museum party.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Know a local hero? Nominate them to join our next class of Washingtonians of the Year. We’re looking for anyone who makes our area a better place. Nominations are due by September 30.
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.
