Good morning. Partly sunny and windy with a high around 73 as October makes its debut. A low near 51 overnight. 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:
Magos Herrera, “Aire.” A highlight from Herrera’s splendid 2023 album of the same name, this tune evokes so much music that I love, from Caetano Veloso to the High Llamas. Herrera plays Blues Alley 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:
Gone dark: Congress and the administration failed to agree on how to continue to fund the federal government, and a shutdown began at 12:01 this morning. While some federal employees deemed “essential” will remain on the job, unpaid until the shutdown ends, many will have to stay home after shutdown preparations are completed. While the closure is not unprecedented—the last shutdown, which lasted 35 days, took place in 2019—it comes amid the Trump administration’s plans to radically remake all aspects of American life, and the White House has “ordered agencies to consider mass firings rather than instituting furloughs.” Social Security checks will continue to be issued, mail service will continue, and troops will continue to patrol the cities to which President Trump has deployed them. (Washington Post) Most National Parks will remain open for now. (Politico) Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will remain open at least through the weekend. (NPR) For now, the Washington region’s most prominent economic activity will be assigning blame. Democrats think Republicans will take the fall for not negotiating with them. Republicans think public opinion will go their way. (AP) Federal workers received a partisan email from OMB yesterday that blamed Democrats for the shutdown. (NBC News) HUD’s website displayed a banner blaming the “Radical Left.” (Federal News Network) California Governor Gavin Newsom blamed a “MAGA meltdown in Congress.” (Governor Gavin Newsom) Expect a lot of political theater today. (Politico)
General manager: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lectured assembled military leaders at Quantico yesterday, giving a speech “almost entirely defined by his 12 months of service in Iraq and his experience as a major in the Army National Guard.” (NYT) The former Fox News host said he would “overhaul the military channels that allow troops and defense personnel to file whistleblower complaints, report toxic leadership or point out discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality or religion.” (Washington Post) He complained about military personnel being fat. (CBS News) Trump then delivered a 70-plus-minute speech that reheated the various themes, cultural obsessions, and grudges he retails regularly, but this time he made a little news: “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” he said. (NYT) He wants the Pentagon to address what he calls the “enemy from within”—to be found in cities where he’s not popular. (Politico)
The reaction: “Could have been an email,” said one official. “Total waste of money,” said another. (Politico) “I have yet to find a single military official who was in the audience today who thought that this was a good presentation,” Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper said on MSNBC. (Raw Story) Here’s a fact check of Trump’s many false statements during the speech. (CNN)
Yesterday, in judges: William G. Young, a federal judge in Massachusetts, laid into the administration yesterday, saying it had “used the threat of deportation to systematically silence noncitizens in academia who protested in support of Palestinians, violating the First Amendment as part of a broader strategy to stamp out campus activism.” (NYT) “Perhaps more remarkable than the blistering ruling is Young’s assessment of President Donald Trump himself, condemning him as a bully who ‘ignores everything,’ engages in ‘hollow bragging’ and uses his power and gifts of communication to strip away constitutional rights.” (Politico) In Las Vegas, Judge David G. Campbell yanked a Trump-appointed interim US Attorney from cases, saying Sigal Chattah had “stayed in the temporary job longer than allowed by law.” (AP) And here in DC, Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui criticized the US Attorney’s office for taking charges it couldn’t get a federal grand jury to indict to DC Superior Court instead. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: The White House moved to withdraw the nomination of E.J. Antoni to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CNN had reported Antoni kept a burner Twitter account that “featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, conspiracy theories, and crude insults aimed at critics of President Donald Trump.” (CNN) Trump said his administration had reached a deal with Harvard. (Politico) ICE has acquired a digital tool that’s “updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones.” (404 Media) ICE agents assaulted a New York reporter yesterday. (AMNY) The White House announced a deal that will spare Pfizer from tariffs for three years and announced it would set up a website, dubbed, naturally, TrumpRx, where people can buy their meds directly from the government. (WSJ) Other drug makers were surprised by the announcement. (Axios) It’s hard to get pennies since Trump ordered the end of their production. Now retailers are asking Congress to allow them to round purchases to the nearest nickel so they can make change. (Bloomberg)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• A fancy pigeon who lived at the Amtrak station transfixed Alexandrians this past summer, but after some people tried to capture “Gregory Alex,” an employee who bonded with the bird decided to give him a forever home.
• Eunoia, a vegetable-centric restaurant that draws from Mexican and Bulgarian traditions, has opened in Union Market.
• Also new to Union Market: Manifest 002, which brings a combination social club, boutique, and Erik Bruner-Yang restaurant to the neighborhood.
Local news links:
• Fresh off a win in pushing through a deal for a new Commanders stadium, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced her next legislative priorities, which she says will boost the District’s revenues and economy: She wants more legalized gambling, streamlined zoning requirements, and tax changes she hopes will spur redevelopment. (Washington Post) She also announced the recipients of funds intended to “attract and retain ‘high growth’ industries to the District.” (WTOP)
• A DC police sergeant was arrested after authorities said he “crashed his Camaro into a car with three federal agents inside while attempting to flee a traffic stop.” (Washington Post)
• The ride-hailing service Empower will shut down in DC after a judge told its CEO he would face jail time for ignoring tens of millions of dollars’ worth of fines for operating illegally. (Washington Post) Oh good: Amazon will test its driverless Zoox robotaxis in DC. (NBC4 Washington)
• A man driving a McLaren sideswiped a Honda SUV on the Beltway, causing it to overturn and injuring its driver, police say. The McLaren “hit something on the highway, flew over the guardrail and landed on South Van Dorn Street below.” Its two occupants were also injured, and its operator was charged with reckless driving. (NBC4 Washington)
• A horrible story from Alexandria: A man died after being struck by a train at the Potomac Yard Metro station last week. He was fleeing teenage girls who police say chased him and beat him after he tried to stop them from following him through the fare gates without paying. (ALXnow)
• Yesterday was the last day of getting paid for people who took Elon Musk‘s “fork in the road” offer earlier this year. (WTOP)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• A Hong Kong-inspired night market begins at Union Market.
• Nicole Chung, Issam Zineh, Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, and Erin Cecilia Thomas will take part in a “Fall Salon” at Lost City Books.
• Registration opens for the Udvar-Hazy’s popular Air & Scare Halloween event.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
We’re seeking nominations for our 500 Most Influential People list. Get ’em to us by December 5!
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.
