Good morning. Sunny and breezy today with a high around 60—textbook fleece vest weather. A low near 39 tonight. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
Sports this weekend: The Wizards will visit the Dallas Mavericks this evening and will host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. The Capitals are at Columbus tonight and will host Ottawa tomorrow. Loudoun United FC will host North Carolina FC Saturday at Segra Field. No Commanders game Sunday—they’ll play another Monday night game against the Chiefs. (I may be unexpectedly free that evening.)
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I can’t stop listening to:
Big Thief, “Los Angeles.” This track from the group’s terrific new album “Double Infinity” has a hazy, washed-out feel that evokes its titular city rather well. Big Thief play the Anthem tonight with Lomelda.
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: On this 24th day of the government shutdown, both the House and Senate are out of session. President Trump leaves tonight for Asia. The administration has instructed thousands of workers at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services t0 return to work, without pay, on Monday. (HuffPost) Air traffic controllers will miss a paycheck Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said flight delays and cancellations could occur if controllers don’t keep showing up to work without pay. (Axios) Democratic and Republican senators voted down dueling proposals to pay some federal workers yesterday, “though both sides appeared to open the door to bipartisan negotiations on the issue.” (Government Executive) “I think we can fix it over the weekend,” US Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said. “This could open up a path to opening the government as well.” (Federal News Network) Republican senators are considering a vote on US Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri’s bill that would fund SNAP benefits through the shutdown. They’re likely to run out at the end of this month. (Politico) The House hasn’t voted since September 19, and GOP leaders in both chambers “won’t open talks with their Democratic counterparts unless Trump allows them to do so.” That won’t happen unless Democrats vote to open the government, Republicans say. (NYT) Republican hopes to peel off more Democratic votes in the Senate have fizzled. (NBC News)
Wrecking ballroom: The East Wing died yesterday. It was 123 and suffered from an acute lack of a ballroom. Dump trucks hauled dirt from the demolition to East Potomac Park, where “some will be used to create mounds at the nearby public golf course.” (Washington Post) Trump’s surprise demolition of an entire wing of the White House erased decades of US history. (NYT) A ballroom will be built on the spot using private funds. Trump said yesterday “that some $350 million had been raised for the project, but he remained vague about his personal contribution.” (AP) The White House released a list of donors yesterday, which includes big tech firms, crypto concerns, cabinet members, and tobacco companies. (Politico) Someone in Petworth got rid of their HP printer in an extremely targeted protest, saying the company “helped pay for the demolition.” (PoPville) The Secret Service closed off the Ellipse yesterday in an apparent attempt to thwart onlookers from onlooking. (The New Republic) A Virginia couple has sued to try to block the demolition—perhaps a bit late for that! (Politico)
The friends of history: Trump said he decided not to send troops to San Francisco after “some incredible people, some friends of mine, very successful people” asked him not to. (AP) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said he would establish an “accountability commission” to keep track of federal actions in the Chicago region. (Chicago Tribune) Yesterday, ICE agents rolled into a South Side neighborhood. They were apparently trying to enter a discount mall, which turned out to be closed. Local residents confronted Trump’s forces, who deployed tear gas and arrested high schoolers. (Chicago Sun-Times) FBI agents visited the Arizona home of someone they’d heard protested ICE. (Ken Klippenstein) In DC, Sam O’Hara, who was detained by DC police last month after he followed National Guard troops around town playing the “Imperial March” from “Star Wars,” filed suit against the District, the cops who detained him, and an Ohio National Guard sergeant. (Washington Post) Meanwhile: DHS denied making Nazi propaganda after it posted videos featuring MGMT’s “Little Dark Age,” a song that has become popular with Nazis online. (Gizmodo)
Annals of extrajustice: Federal prosecutors can’t find enough evidence to charge US Senator Adam Schiff with mortgage fraud, a potential setback to Trump’s demand that DOJ prosecute a longtime critic of his. (NBC News) Prosecutors looking into similar “charges” against New York Attorney General Letitia James, whom the administration indicted earlier this month, found that “any financial benefit derived from her allegedly falsified mortgage would have amounted to approximately $800.” (ABC News) James’s team moved to sanction Lindsey Halligan—whom Trump appointed as acting US Attorney in Eastern Virginia after the office’s previous occupant declined to pursue charges against James—over text messages where she discussed the case with a reporter. (Democracy Docket) James’s attorneys also plan to challenge Halligan’s appointment, calling it “unlawful.” (CNN) Meanwhile: Trump said he wouldn’t ask Congress for permission to conduct strikes on drug cartels, an expansion of “the legally questionable military operation he has undertaken over the past several weeks, in which nine airstrikes at sea have resulted in 37 acknowledged deaths.” (NYT) No problem: US Senator James Risch of Idaho, who chairs the Senate’s Foreign Relations committee, has no plans to hold oversight hearings about the strikes anyway. (Axios) Unidentified bodies, missing limbs and marked with burns, are washing up in Trinidad. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Trump ordered a halt to trade negotiations with Canada after Ontario Premier Doug Ford aired a TV ad that showed Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs, something he considers relevant to trade with our top export market. Trump says the ad selectively edits Reagan’s words. Ford has called Trump “a piece of work.” (Washington Post) Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao “following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.” (WSJ) Steve Bannon predicted Trump would still be President in 2028, which is actually how things are supposed to work, and that he’ll have a third term, which not how things are supposed to work. (People) A Tennessee man is being prosecuted for posting derisive memes about Charlie Kirk. (The Intercept) Trump claimed he okayed Israel’s exploding-pager operation against Hezbollah, which took place before he was elected last year. (The Daily Beast)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This newly constructed five bedroom/five-and-a-half bathroom house in Spring Valley features four levels with a family room with a vaulted ceiling, a gym, and—of course—an elevator. It’s listed at $4.275 million, and you can see it Sunday. Take a gander at Emma Sullivan‘s other open house picks for the weekend.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Bronze chef Keem Hughley returns with Realm, a Seychelles-inspired rooftop bar atop the Hyatt House in Shaw.
• Among the participants at this weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon: Six wounded, active-duty Ukrainian soldiers.
• Fall wine experiences around the region.
Local news links:
• Democrats in Virginia will push to redraw congressional districts as other states consider partisan redistricting. (NYT)
• Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia whose campaign has been rocked by a text-message scandal, is now in a tie with Republican Jason Miyares, according to a new poll. He previously led Miyares in polling. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger maintains a significant lead over her GOP rival, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. (Washington Post)
• Trump was furious that protesters got inside Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab when he visited the restaurant last month. His team subsequently “had a tense talk with Secret Service officials.” (Axios) Flashback: Here’s how the protesters got so close. (Washingtonian)
• Michael Dodge II, the mortgage company worker shot in Stafford County this week, was changing the locks on a foreclosed home when he was killed. (NBC4 Washington)
• The US Patent and Trademark Office filed a notice warning that it plans to lay off 126 workers at its Alexandria HQ. (WBJ)
• Silver Spring’s Solaire Social will close abruptly today. (BethesdaToday)
• A “Kennedy 2024” campaign bus was parked outside a Chick-fil-A in the District yesterday. Look, everyone needs to park somewhere. (PoPville)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The Washington Ballet offers four ballets in one with “Moving Forces,” which runs tonight through Sunday at the Kennedy Center.
Saturday: Kids can meet George Washington, take part in a costume parade, and trick-or-treat at Mount Vernon.
Sunday: Jeff Tweedy plays a solo show at the Lincoln Theatre. (He’ll also be at the 9:30 on Monday.)
See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who also 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.
