Good morning. Sunny and occasionally gusty with a high around 73. Shower chances tonight, with a low near 50. The Capitals host the Seattle Kraken tonight. 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:
Nourished by Time, “The Fields.” This video shows Nourished by Time’s Marcus Elliot Brown taking bong hits in his car, going to Safeway, and walking in the woods. It’s pretty great! Nourished by Time plays the Atlantis tonight with Zsela.
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: Delayed visa applications. Mortgages held up because federal flood insurance isn’t available. Paused loans to farmers. Indirect economic effects of the government shutdown are helping to shave “between 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points off annual growth in economic output for each week it drags on.” (NYT) Most of the agencies whose plans to lay off federal employees during the shutdown have been thwarted temporarily by a judge haven’t said how they’ll cut staff. But the Department of the Interior has released the outlines of its plan to cut more than 2,000 jobs. (Government Executive) The American Federation of Government Employees has urged the Social Security Administration to allow “excepted” employees, who must work without pay during the shutdown, to work from home. The answer? Silence. (Federal News Network) The administration is looking for ways to pay air traffic controllers, who also must work without pay. (Politico) Meanwhile, on the Hill: The Senate will vote this week on paying excepted employees. (Government Executive) Republicans in the US Senate will visit the White House today, “not for urgent talks on how to end” the shutdown, “but for a display of unity” with President Trump. (AP) Still, some GOP leaders in Congress are quietly “sketching out what a deal might look like” with Democrats over health-care subsidies. (Politico) If that seems slightly hopeful, some Republicans in the Senate are bandying about changes to the filibuster. (NOTUS) The stopgap spending bill at the heart of this mess originally funded the government through November 21. Some in Congress said that a new bill will be necessary if lawmakers somehow figure out an exit strategy from the standoff. (Politico) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has canceled a planned trip to Asia because of the shutdown. (Axios)
Ballroom blitz: The White House began to tear down part of the East Wing yesterday as construction begins on Trump’s new ballroom. In July, the President claimed the work “won’t interfere with the current building.” (Washington Post) It’s tough to see the work from the street, but employees at the Treasury Department have a very good view. A department official instructed them not to take photos. (WSJ) The National Capital Planning Commission hasn’t signed off on the ballroom. (AP)
Another charmer: Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, “said he has ‘a Nazi streak'” in text messages with Republicans. Ingrassia also said holidays like Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday should be “eviscerated” and used “an Italian slur for Black people.” (Politico) Ingrassia’s nomination appears to be well and truly torpedoed by the revelations. (NYT) Ingrassia was investigated for sexual harassment after an incident in July, Daniel Lippman reported earlier this month. (Politico) He graduated from law school in 2021, “has stressed that ‘exceptional white men’ built Western civilization” and “suggested that ‘the descendants of slaves pay reparations to slave owners.'” (Washington Post) Meanwhile: the administration has “paused the judicial nomination of former Florida Deputy Attorney General John Guard due to his involvement with a charity linked to Gov. Ron DeSantis that’s under criminal investigation.” (Axios)
The blues: A three-judge panel on a federal appeals court says the administration can send troops to Portland, Oregon, despite a lower court judge’s finding that the protests Trump cited as a reason for the deployment had largely ended. (Washington Post) The state of Illinois asked the Supreme Court to deny Trump’s request to send troops to Chicago. (Chicago Tribune) DHS Secretary Kristi Noem encouraged people who see an ICE agent to thank them, perhaps “cook a meal for their families.” (Chicago Tribune) Then again, maybe fix them a salad: More than a third of ICE recruits have failed a physical fitness test at the agency’s academy in Georgia. (The Atlantic)
Administration perambulation: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants to lead NASA (as well? I guess?) but Jared Isaacman, Trump’s former nominee for the job and a favorite of former Trump pal Elon Musk, is back in the mix. (WSJ) James Comey asked US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff (random fact: He and I were in a play together in middle school; he played the lead and was terrific; I had one line, which was announcing the first name of my character) to dismiss the administration’s weird case against him, calling the prosecution “an egregious abuse of power.” (Politico) Customers canceled Disney+ and Hulu at double the usual rate after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel last month. (WSJ) Kenny Loggins asked Trump to remove his song “Danger Zone” from a video the President posted over the weekend in which he, dressed as a king, flew a fighter jet over No Kings protests and dropped poop on the participants. [Note to self: Save that sentence for a year-end roundup.] (Variety) Is Trump considering commuting Sean Combs‘s sentence? Wouldn’t that be something! (TMZ)
What it’s like to ride on an electric “flying” ferry, by Daniella Byck:
Standing on the edge of the Potomac River in Georgetown, I feel like I’m awaiting alien abduction as a sleek, silent boat hovers just above the water, heading straight toward me. However, the vessel is manned not by extraterrestrial entities but by two mustachioed men from the Swedish company Candela.
Kristian Sloth Lauszus and Mikael Mahlberg are showing me what could be the future of commuting in DC: an electric boat that “flies” above the water, speeding between Georgetown and Arlington in just six minutes. The boat uses hydrofoil technology, a set of underwater wings that lift the hull and create minimal wake, allowing it to move quickly in no-wake zones such as Georgetown and the Wharf.
Lauszus and Mahlberg are in town demoing the technology, part of conversations Candela is having with cities about introducing the P-12, a 30-seat electric ferry for commuters. The boats are currently shuttling passengers in Stockholm and will make their stateside debut next year in Lake Tahoe. Washington, with its open waterways and gridlock traffic, is another prospective market.
Once on board, I detangle a minimalist life jacket that is more confusing than building a RÅDMANSÖ from Ikea. The boat we’re riding is a C-8, the sedan version of the larger P-12, though it uses the same technology. As we pull away from the harbor, it doesn’t feel too different from a typical powerboat. But then Muhlberg pushes the throttle, and the boat catches for a brief moment. Suddenly, we ascend, pushing 22 knots in smooth silence. In the distance, I can see cars starting and stopping on a bridge. But on the water? There’s no honking, no braking, no cutting anyone off, just a blissful journey.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• DC’s Chinatown has about 350 Chinese residents, down from around 3,000 in 2010. We spoke with the proprietors of some of the neighborhood’s last Chinese businesses.
• We met members of DC’s “gray resistance,” who are prominent at anti-Trump protests around town.
• An exhibit in Georgetown reimagines Chuck Brown as a new Washington monument.
• George Santos is not just out of the joint, he’s back on Cameo.
• Photos from Saturday’s No Kings protest in DC.
Local news links:
• Two more teenagers accused of participating in the August attack on DOGE veteran Edward “Big Balls” Coristine that precipitated Trump’s takeover of the DC police were charged yesterday. Two 15-year-olds have already been sentenced to probation in the attack, a fact Trump and US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro have rued. (Washington Post)
• Jayden Daniels‘s injury Sunday was “not significant or long-term,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said yesterday. Quinn also said he didn’t know whether Daniels will be able to play next Monday. (NBC Sports)
• Empower, the ride share service that was supposed to stop running in the District, has found a way to keep its cars on the road. (Washington Post)
• Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Jorge Rueda Landeros, who is accused of killing American University professor Sue Ann Marcum in 2010. (WTOP)
• An Arlington man was charged with attempted malicious wounding. Police say he struck a cyclist with his vehicle after an argument. (ARLnow)
• DC will get a reprieve from Waymo’s autonomous taxis, for a while at least, due to budget cuts that “eliminated funding for a critical safety study.” (WUSA9) The Washington Post editorial board somehow okayed an editorial claiming that taking robot taxis off the street will actually endanger Washingtonians and blasting DC Council member Charles Allen. (Washington Post) Allen noted on Twitter that Post owner Jeff Bezos‘s old company Amazon owns Zoox, a similar startup, a fact that the Post board, which Bezos dramatically reshaped after Trump’s victory last year, did not see fit to mention. (Charles Allen/X)
Tuesday’s event pick:
• Bring your pups to Met Park for a day of art-making, doggie trick-or-treating, and a pet costume contest.
See more picks for this week 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.
