Good morning. Scattered showers today with a high around 57. Rainy and windy overnight, with a low near 53. 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:
3, “Swann Street.” This DC punk classic—recently renamed “Swann Street” after its original title, “Swann Street,” proved problematic—is where John Davis got the title for his new book about punk fanzines in the District. Davis, the former drummer for Q and Not U and a curator of the University of Maryland’s punk collection, will discuss his new book with Ian MacKaye at Politics and Prose this evening.
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: US District Judge Susan Illston extended an order that prevents the Trump administration from instituting mass layoffs of federal workers during the government shutdown, which turns 29 days old today. The administration plans to appeal. (Politico) DOJ attorney Michael Velchik, who represented the administration in the case, argued that for Trump, saying “You’re fired” is “what he’s known for doing.” (Government Executive) The Department of Defense issued a memo the day before the shutdown began that would make it easier to fire employees. Defense officials say the new policy makes it easier to weed out underperformers. Some people there fear it’s “so broad it could be used to fire anyone who doesn’t rubber stamp the administration’s programs.” (Washington Post) “Republicans want to keep maximum pressure on Democrats to reopen the government by making conditions on the ground as unpleasant as possible.” (Politico) Here’s a roundup of the coming unpleasantness. (NBC News) Some inside the GOP caucus are growing frustrated by House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s decision to keep the chamber closed during the shutdown. (Axios) Twenty-five states and DC sued the government “over its recent refusal to fund food stamps during the government shutdown.” (NYT) Democrats in the Senate will introduce an alternate bill to keep SNAP funded. (Politico) The shutdown has slowed down security clearances. (Federal News Network) Meanwhile: Americans are finding out what Obamacare plans will cost next year without the subsidies that Republicans want to vaporize and which Democrats say are a prerequisite to them voting to reopen the government. They’re not especially psyched about the hefty increases. (WSJ)
The war on cities: US District Judge Sara Ellis laid into Border Patrol honcho Gregory Bovino yesterday over federal agents’ use of aggressive and violent tactics during the administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago. For instance, she said by way of example, they shouldn’t have tear-gassed a children’s Halloween parade. (Block Club Chicago) Ellis ordered Bovino to meet with her daily, to wear a body camera, and to follow rules about deploying chemical irritants. (Chicago Sun-Times) A Chicago running club shared video that appears to show one of its members, a 67-year-old man, being dragged from his car and assaulted by federal agents, who the club says broke six of the man’s ribs. (The Independent) The feds charged the manager of a Chicago-area comedy club with assaulting a federal officer; witnesses tell a different story. (Chicago Tribune) A federal appeals court vacated an earlier ruling that would have allowed Trump to deploy troops to Portland, Oregon, saying it plans to reconsider the motion. (Washington Post) A federal judge in California ruled that the US’s “top prosecutor in Los Angeles has been illegally serving in the role since July.” (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Trump “seemed to concede on Wednesday that he was not eligible to serve a third term,” which is in fact the case. (NYT) The White House fired every member of the nominally independent Commission of Fine Arts, the body charged with reviewing plans such as destroying the East Wing to build a ballroom named after Trump and erecting a massive Arc de Triomphe-like structure near Arlington Cemetery. (Washington Post) The US military killed 14 more people in the Pacific; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed, without offering evidence, that they were transporting drugs to the US. (Washington Post) The White House asked the Navy to use live ordnance rather than dummies during a demonstration for Trump earlier this month, saying the President “needed to see explosions.” (To be fair, this is how I tend to choose movies.) (AP) Trump “plans to sign an executive order that would compel the U.S. Navy to use steam-powered catapults.” (TWZ) Flashback: Like windmills, steam is a longtime fixation for Trump. (The Atlantic) The DC Bar’s ethics committee warned Big Law firms that struck deals with Trump that if they represent clients with business before they government, their capitulations would “call into question whether the firm might pull its punches instead of zealously advocating its client’s interests.” (NYT) The US Senate symbolically rebuked Trump over tariffs on Brazil. (Axios) Vaccine skeptic Steven Hatfill got yeeted from HHS over the weekend, apparently for misrepresenting his job title. He said his firing was part of a “coup” being orchestrated against Health Secretary RFK Jr. (NYT) The already shaky federal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James that Trump ordered over her purchase of a second home in Virginia that she rented to a relative, has a major flaw: “The mortgage contract James signed does not prohibit renting out the house.” (Politico) The FCC voted to raise the price prisoners’ families must pay for phone calls. (NYT) Brent Robertson, a top aide to US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, and commutes to DC at a cost to taxpayers of $44,000 over the past two years. (Politico)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• “I feel Speaker Johnson is trolling me a little bit”: We chatted with Representative-elect US Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, whom the speaker of the House won’t seat despite her victory in a special election last month.
• The most expensive houses sold in the area last month.
• DC influencer Saumya Shiohare gave us tips on how to style Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s color of the year.
Local news links:
• Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said he wouldn’t go along with a plan to gerrymander the state’s lone Republican representative out of a job. (Washington Post) Here’s the plan Virginia Democrats hope to pass. (Washington Post)
• The Washington Post editorial board, which Post owner Jeff Bezos dramatically reconfigured earlier this year, has developed a weird habit of omitting disclosures of Bezos’s financial interests in recent editorials. (NPR)
• That was the Blue Angels flying over town yesterday. (USA Today)
• Netflix plans to take office space at the Woodies building downtown. (Urban Turf)
• Monumental Sports and Entertainment hired José Andrés vet Tina Lavelle to lead an initiative to provide “bespoke, five-star service” to certain attendees at Capital One Arena. (WBJ)
• Students at Anacostia High School will attend classes at Kramer Middle School while crews at the high school clean up a sewage overflow. (WUSA9)
• Just like during the last Trump administration, MAGAs are finding it tough to date in DC. (Washington Post)
• Friday will be Miss Pixie’s last day in business. (Axios D.C.)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• Amy Herzog’s adaptation of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” opens at Theater J.
• The Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra will play the score to “Nosferatu” as the classic silent film shows at the Lincoln Theatre.
• “Something for the People,” a documentary about go-go-fueled local activism, gets a special screening at Georgetown Law.
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.
