Good morning. We’re in for a terrific fall day with sun, light breezes, and a high near 65. Fleece vests were invented for Fridays like this. Clear tonight with a low around 47.
Sports this weekend: The Washington Capitals will host Minnesota this evening and Vancouver on Sunday. The Washington Spirit will host the Orlando Pride on Saturday. D.C. United will visit Atlanta United on Saturday. Loudoun United will visit the Indy Eleven on Saturday. It’s Dallas week for Washington Commanders, who will visit the Cowboys on Sunday. DC Power FC will host Spokane Zephyr FC at Audi Field on Sunday.
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:
Meklit feat. Brandee Younger, “Tizita.” “Tizita” can mean “longing” in Amharic. It’s also a genre of Ethiopian music that rewards contemplation. This languid tune by San Francisco-based Ethiopian-American artist Meklit, with crystalline harp by Younger, evinces both concepts. The Smithsonian Folkways artist plays Montgomery College’s Cultural Art Center Saturday.
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: We’re heading into another weekend with no prospect of an end to the government shutdown, which is in its 17th day. President Trump declared that FBI agents would get paid during the appropriations lapse yesterday, though the announcement was light on details about how. (Government Executive) Pain from the shutdowns continues to spread through the economy, particularly in our region: Some contractors are beginning to cut employee hours, and layoffs could follow. (Federal News Network) Some federal workers who are required to work full-time without getting paid are taking side gigs like driving for Uber in their scant spare time. (Government Executive) Congress, whose members do get paid during the shutdown, is nowhere close to a deal. A standalone bill to fund the Defense Department failed yesterday. (CNBC) Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a slight glimmer of hope, saying “the White House is open to rolling back some of the steps it has taken during the shutdown — if Democrats agree to reopen the government.” (Politico) He also plans to take up legislation next week that would pay feds who have to work through the shutdown. (Politico) But Trump’s history of unilateral action means Democrats “are effectively being asked to sign onto a deal that they know can be unilaterally undone by a defiant president and a compliant Republican majority.” (NYT) To wit: Trump said he will release a list of “Democrat programs”—can someone please explain to Washingtonian Today why Republicans intentionally say “Democrat Party” instead of “Democratic Party”? Is this meant to be a diss? Honestly, we don’t get why—on Friday. (ABC News) Meanwhile, in the House: Some Republicans are getting antsy about Speaker Mike Johnson‘s decision to keep his chamber closed during the shutdown. (Politico) NPR spoke with Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, a Democrat Johnson refuses to swear in. She has no staff, no computers, no email—but she did get keys to her office, at least. (NPR) Democrats say they won’t deal unless Republicans commit to extending Covid-era Obamacare subsidies. That stance “has reopened an old wound for Republicans: What should they do about the health care law they have railed against for more than a decade but has now taken root with their own constituents?” (Politico) Finally, who’s getting blamed for this mess? Most Americans polled still say Republicans and Trump. (AP/NORC)
The war on cities: A federal appeals court maintained a ban that prevents Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Chicago, writing that “political opposition is not rebellion.” (Chicago Tribune) Congressional Democrats sent—what else?—a strongly worded letter to the White House, saying the administration “has effectively invaded an American city” and listing incidents like ICE agents zip-tying civilians, deploying tear gas, and shooting people as evidence. (NOTUS) Indeed, journalists at ProPublica “found more than 170” incidents of “U.S. citizens being mistreated by immigration agents” since Trump’s crackdown began. (ProPublica) ICE arrested a police officer in the suburb of Hanover Park, saying he was in the US illegally. (CNN) The White House used footage from Florida, South Carolina, and other states not named Illinois in videos it claimed showed unrest in Chicago. (AFP) Meanwhile, in San Francisco: As noise builds around a similar deployment in San Francisco, Salesforce—whose CEO, Marc Benioff, lives in Hawaii and has said he supports such an action—has offered to help ICE in several ways, including helping it recruit more agents. (NYT) Venture capitalist Ron Conway resigned from the board of the Salesforce Foundation, a charity, citing what he called Benioff’s “willful ignorance and detachment from the impacts of the ICE immigration raids of families with NO criminal record.” (NYT) Meanwhile, in DC: A jury found Sidney Lori Reid not guilty. Federal prosecutors had accused her of assaulting an FBI agent. Her victory is another embarrassment for US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose office has aggressively charged people on what would normally be treated as minor charges since Trump’s crackdown here began. Pirro’s office failed to indict Reid on felony charges three times, and lost this case, a misdemeanor. “I feel sorry for the prosecutors really,” Reid said. (HuffPost) Meanwhile, in Texas: Governor Greg Abbott plans to send National Guard troops to a No Kings rally in Austin. (Politico) Meanwhile, on the internet: Hackers “have posted the names and personal information of hundreds of government officials, including people working for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” (404 Media)
Trump’s other wars: The Department of Justice charged John Bolton with keeping classified records at home. The case is “the third against a Trump adversary in the last month.” (AP) Unlike the cases against Letitia James and James Comey, though, this one is being handled by career prosecutors. (Politico) Admiral Alvin Holsey, who oversees the US command that has overseen Trump’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean, will retire early, reportedly after raising concerns about the legality of the attacks. (NYT) The family of Chad Joseph, a Trinidadian fisherman who’d been living in Venezuela, believes he was killed in one of Trump’s strikes. (NYT) A strike yesterday left survivors for the first time, which “raises new questions, including whether the U.S. military rendered aid to the survivors and whether they are now in U.S. military custody.” (Reuters)
Administration perambulation: Trump will meet with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the White House today. (AP) The US Chamber of Congress sued the administration over its new fees and other restrictions for H1-B visas. (WSJ) The administration announced plans to make IVF more available, but the initiatives contained “no new funding for patients or providers and no mandates that insurers cover the procedures, which can cost up to $20,000 for a single cycle.” (Politico) Prosecutors charged Smartmatic, which is suing Fox News, with money laundering. (AP) Reporters from the Federalist, the Epoch Times, and One America News signed the Pentagon’s new press restrictions, while all major outlets—including Fox News, which used to employ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—declined to. (Washington Post) US Representative Dave Taylor, a Republican from Ohio, said a US flag with a swastika on it spotted on one of his staffers’ walls was sent to his office and was “initially indistinguishable from an ordinary American flag to the naked eye,” though staffers in other offices that received the flags say they immediately saw the swastikas and tossed them. (Politico)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Peruvian dishes can have some inscrutable names. No one knows exactly why aeropuerto, a mixture of fried rice and stir-fried noodles, is called “airport,” though it may be because restaurants near Lima’s international airport pioneered the fusion dish. Monstruito (little monster) is simply fried or broasted chicken with fried rice. The presence of these names, unexplained, on the menu at All Peru food truck, parked behind a carpet store on Veirs Mill Road, suggests that it’s mainly intended for Peruvian eyes. The offerings here go far beyond pollo a la brasa and lomo saltado (though All Peru serves a great version of the latter with chicken or beef). One favorite of mine was the pan con chicharron, a crispy pork sandwich layered with slices of sweet potato and slivers of red onion. I washed it down with a warm mug of quinua con piña, a sweet quinoa-and-pineapple drink.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Here’s what you need to know about tomorrow’s No Kings rally in DC.
• Stephen Miller put his Arlington house on the market after protesters wrote chalk messages on the sidewalk outside.
• A Great Falls estate and a Columbia Heights townhouse are among our picks for the best open houses this weekend.
• A rundown of fun Halloween events around the region.
• A report from the ice sculpture “Democracy,” which melted on the Mall.
Local news links:
• Jay Jones apologized for the text messages that have rocked his campaign to become Virginia’s next attorney general during a debate with Republican Jason Miyares, the incumbent he’s running against. (Virginia Mercury) Here are some takeaways from the debate. (Washington Post)
• Court records suggest that “gambling debts may have played a role” in DC Council member Trayon White‘s alleged acceptance of bribes. (WUSA9)
• Trump unveiled a model of his proposed arch at Memorial Circle, which “bears a striking resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.” (AP)
• NPR “founding mother” Susan Stamberg died Thursday at 87. (NPR) Flashback: I spoke with Stamberg and others about the early days of “All Things Considered” as part of a story about the network’s 50th anniversary in 2021. (Washingtonian)
• Ikea will close its Pentagon City mini-store and open one in Georgetown. (WBJ)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The Noir City DC festival kicks off in Silver Spring.
Saturday: The fall edition of the DC Wine Fest lands at Dock 5.
Sunday: The Turkish Festival livens up Pennsylvania Avenue.
See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our great 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.
