Good morning. Sunny and breezy with a high of just 66 today. A low near 44 overnight.🚦Fleece vest traffic control system🚦: (A limited-edition feature on Washingtonian Today where our proprietary algorithm issues a green, yellow, or red light to your hopes to wear a fleece vest) Today is a 🟢 day. Vest season is here. Savor it.
Thanks for reading. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Lainey Wilson, “Somewhere Over Laredo.” The rising country star plays Merriweather Post Pavilion tonight with Muscadine Bloodline and Lauren Watkins.
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:
Shutshow: A day after President Trump claimed the federal government may withhold back pay from furloughed federal employees, the IRS sent furloughed employees a notice saying that a 2019 law—which Trump signed—guarantees that they’ll be made whole after a shutdown. One employee notes the document may come in handy should a court case ensue. (Government Executive) The IRS has halted most of its operations after coasting a few days on funds it received in 2022. (Federal News Network) Air traffic controllers haven’t yet staged a mass sick-out, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said yesterday. (Government Executive) Both Democrats and Republicans hope air travel delays could force the other party to negotiate. (Politico) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer hopes “Trump gets engaged at some point and wants to cut a deal.” (Punchbowl News) Majority Leader John Thune could bring “standalone appropriations bills to the floor,” a “long and tortuous way to reopen the government, department by department.” (Axios) Thune “and other senior GOP lawmakers have quietly advised the White House not to move forward with mass layoffs and sharp cuts to government assistance programs” that Trump has threatened (and not implemented). (WSJ) On the other side of the Hill, Republicans are growing impatient with House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s decision to keep his chamber in recess during the shutdown.(Axios) Some Democrats are pressing Johnson to swear in Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona. (NBC News) Others pushed him to open the chamber so members of the US military won’t miss a paycheck next week. (Federal News Network)
The war at home: Federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped cases against two protesters after grand jury declined to indict them, a growing and very unusual trend in cities where Trump has deployed troops. (Bloomberg Law) On his social media website, Trump called for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to be jailed. (Reuters) “Come and get me,” Pritzker replied. (Chicago Sun-Times) A federal judge in Chicago ordered ICE to release 11 people it had detained without judicial warrants and found that the agency had violated a 2022 consent decree. The judge, Jeffrey Cummings, cited a harsh raid on a Chicago building last week in his ruling. (Chicago Tribune) About two dozen protesters filed away from an ICE facility in nearby Broadview last night without intervention from the National Guard. (Chicago Tribune) Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confronted what conservative influencer Benny Johnson described as an “army of Antifa.” It was a handful of people and a man in a chicken suit. (The Independent) Noem claimed local officials are “covering up the terrorism that is hitting their streets.” (NBC News) While Trump has described Portland as “war-ravaged” and protests at an ICE facility “under siege from attack by Antifa,” federal officers described protests in the Oregon city the week before he ordered troops deployed there as “low energy.” (NYT) Nonetheless, the White House is inching closer to invoking the Insurrection Act to continue his deployments. (NBC News)
An actual deal: Israel and Hamas have accepted a Trump-brokered peace deal that would bring the war in Gaza to an end, Trump announced yesterday after leaving an “Antifa roundtable.” (Washington Post) Hamas agreed to release the remaining hostages it holds Monday, and Israel will release some Palestinian prisoners. (AP) Details about the deal remain scarce. (NYT) Meanwhile: Trump hasn’t provided any evidence to Congress regarding his lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean he claims were carrying drugs. (AP) Nonetheless, a measure that would have restricted Trump’s strikes failed in the Senate. (Washington Post)
Administration perambulation: Trump’s message to Attorney General Pam Bondi instructing her to prosecute several of his enemies was in fact meant to be private. The marching orders “provided a window into how, through command and chaos, Trump has executed a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department.” (WSJ) Former FBI Director James Comey made his first appearance in one of the prosecutions Trump dialed up yesterday. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin in Alexandria in January. (CNBC) Almost a quarter of the FBI’s agents are now working on immigration enforcement. (Washington Post) The FBI also fired three special agents who worked on Jack Smith‘s investigation of Trump. (NBC News) Staffers at DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have been reassigned to immigration cases. (Bloomberg) Catholic leaders in the US say Pope Leo instructed them to be “more united and more forceful” in opposing mass deportations. (Politico) The administration has fired many Black officials, and it has appointed only two Black people to senior roles so far. (NYT) Acting on orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon has launched almost 300 investigations into whether Defense Department personnel have criticized slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Washington Post) Trump will get a “routine yearly check up” Friday. It would be his second annual exam this year. (NBC News) The CDC has “quietly opened the door to wider access to Covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy.” (Politico)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Stuck in River Road traffic a few weeks ago—in a part of Bethesda that is notably short on affordable, interesting food options—I noticed an incongruous Guatemalan street food trailer parked at a gas station. At La Cobanerita, where I returned a few days later, I tried the garnachas (fried thick tortillas topped with a rich stewed ground beef and sliced cabbage) and the tostadas chapines, which were simpler but possibly even better: three freshly fried tostadas spread with a tricolor of guacamole, refried black beans, and a sweet, smooth tomato salsa, and topped with white onion and cheese. (5110 River Road, Bethesda.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• If you’re considering private school, focus less on one that has a pipeline to a specific college and more on finding a place where your kid can thrive, a local counselor tells us.
• This regal, whimsical wedding celebrated the couple’s Cameroonian roots.
Local news links:
• The DC Council voted down a measure that would have extended youth curfews in several areas. But they reconsidered after apparent pressure from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. They’ll take it up again soon. (Washington Post)
• A seemingly slam-dunk conviction in a DC carjacking may be derailed because DC cops used what the DC Court of Appeals called “extraordinarily suggestive” and “entirely unnecessary” witness identification. (Washington City Paper)
• Longtime Bowser aide Beverly Perry has left the administration for a private-sector gig. (Washington Post)
• Northern Virginia is about to get a Publix. (Inside NoVa)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Nikki Glaser performs at Constitution Hall.
• Go-kart experience Race the District revs up at Union Market.
• Druski brings his parody Instagram live show to Capital One Arena.
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.
