Good morning. I hope your Halloween is as happy as possible. Sunny with gusts and a high near 60 today. A low around 43 overnight. Daylight saving time ends Sunday. It’s fashionable in some circles to say we should stay on DST year-round. Did you know the US tried that in the ’70s—and people hated it? Please don’t fling an alarm clock at me; I’m just telling you what happened when we actually tried this!
Sports this weekend: The Capitals host the Islanders tonight and visit Buffalo on Saturday. The Wizards host the Orlando Magic Saturday. The Commanders host Seattle Sunday.
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:
Boris, “Korosu.” The Japanese noise rock titans are simply amazing live—and, if like me you suffer from a debilitating addiction to guitar pedals, you may or may not want to know that they’ll be selling a limited edition version of their Earthquaker Devices fuzz on this tour. They’ll play the Fillmore Saturday with Agriculture.
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: The government shutdown turns 31 days old today. If it lasts till next Wednesday it’ll set a record. Great work, everyone. President Trump last night urged Republicans in the Senate to nuke the filibuster and overpower Democrats, who want subsidies for Obamacare plans to continue before they’ll vote to reopen the government. (NYT) Take a look at how much the price of Obamacare plans is set to go up around the country. (NYT) Trump also instructed Democrats to “Do something,” which, isn’t that what’s going on? (The Hill) Trump still won’t meet with Democrats over ending the shutdown. It’s a complex tapestry of messages, as usual. (Politico) Meanwhile, on the Hill: Here’s a good read of where things stand among lawmakers, who, unlike most federal workers, continue to get paid during the shutdown. (Punchbowl News) Bipartisan huddles about spending are taking place. (Politico) But US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia is sitting this one out, believing that the impasse “won’t be solved by a Senate gang, but by one person: President Donald Trump.” (Politico) Any deal would need to address four issues. (Politico) Elsewhere: US District Judge Indira Talwani signaled that she would order the administration to keep providing SNAP benefits during the shutdown. (Washington Post) More unions pressed Democrats to cave. (Axios) Delta, United, and American all urged Congress to fix the mess, citing strain on air traffic controllers, who must work without pay. (CNBC) It’s hard work, six days a week for many workers, some of whom have taken side gigs to bring in a little income. (CNN) Service members will get paid today, the administration says. (NBC News) Federal workers say they’re being “treated as pawns.” (Federal News Network) Republican hopes that the public would blame Democrats over the shutdown have been smashed against the rocks of public opinion: A plurality of Americans still blame the GOP and Trump. 63 percent of people polled “disapprove of Trump’s management of the federal government, up from 57 percent in April and 54 percent in February.” (Washington Post)
The war on cities: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused a request by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to pause, over Halloween, the immigration crackdown in Chicago that has seen ICE agents use tear gas and other aggressive tactics. (NBC News) Noem also said, “There’s no American citizens that have been arrested or detained.” (Chicago Sun-Times) That’s hogwash. (ProPublica) Federal agents took part in a ten-minute car chase and then chased two men into a Chicago-area high school yesterday. (Chicago Sun-Times) ICE is looking at creating a privately run deportation network in Texas. (Wired)
Administration perambulation: Social Security Administrator and IRS “CEO” Frank Bisignano sold his stake in Fiserv, a company he ran before he entered government service, netting “roughly $560 million.” The company’s stock value plummeted yesterday after its new leader, Michael Lyons, said “decisions to defer certain investments and cut certain costs” in the Bisignano era hurt the company. (NYT) The company rescinded its earnings outlook, which “could also seemingly lend credence to a lawsuit filed by investors in the company.” (Government Executive) Trump adviser Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Noem are among at least six top administration officials who’ve moved into military housing in the DC area. (The Atlantic) The FBI is forcing out Aaron Tapp, a 22-year veteran of the agency, “the latest example of an ongoing purge by [Director Kash] Patel of FBI agents who worked on cases that have drawn the ire of President Trump.” (MSNBC) The Department of Justice ” is investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors.” (AP) US District Judge Carl Nichols praised the work of two DOJ prosecutors who were “abruptly placed on leave Wednesday” after they described the events of January 6, 2021, “as an attack by ‘thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters.'” They had been prosecuting Taylor Taranto, a rioter Trump pardoned who has since been convicted of threatening former President Obama, whose home address Trump claimed to share on his social media site. (Politico) The administration finally briefed Congress on its extrajudicial strikes on boats it claims are transporting drugs to the US—but excluded Democrats. (NBC News) The administration plans a $12 billion bailout for farmers hurting from Trump’s trade wars. (Politico) The administration replaced Rear Admiral Kurt Rothenhaus as the head of the Office of Naval Research, replacing him with Rachel Riley, a 33-year-old DOGE person with no naval experience. (The Bulwark)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
The architect Frederick Pyle designed this four level, four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath Beaux-Arts townhouse in Kalorama for department store magnate and developer Samuel Woodward in 1908. Highlights include a kitchen with marble countertops and backsplash, a butler’s pantry, a primary suite with dual showers, plus seven fireplaces and a rooftop deck. It’s listed at $3.35 million, and you can see it Sunday. Take a look-see at Eric Wills‘s other picks for the weekend’s best open houses.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Noochie’s Live From the Front Porch, the DC Beer Festival, and Paula Vogel‘s “Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions” are among November’s arts and entertainment highlights.
• Proper Bar, a 5,500-square-foot restaurant and cocktail lounge from the owners of Proper 21 and Proper 21 K Street, has opened in Mount Vernon Triangle.
Local news links:
Virginia election: GOP gubernatorial candidate Winston Earle-Sears‘s bus caught on fire yesterday. (WUSA9) Her opponent, Abigail Spanberger, held a rally at Alexandria’s Los Tios Grill. (ALXnow) A Roanoke College poll finds Spanberger ten points ahead of Earle-Sears and says embattled Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones trails Republican Jason Miyares by nine points. (Roanoke College)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser “said she would use city reserves to cover the federal government’s portion of the SNAP benefits through the end of November if necessary” (Washington Post)
• An utterly bonkers story from Maryland: Federal prosecutors say state Senator Dalya Attar extorted a one-time ally, planting hidden cameras in her apartment and threatening to release videos of her “intimate moments” with “‘every Rabbi in town’ and matchmakers in Israel poised to help her daughters get married.” (Washington Post)
• Ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have plummeted since Trump took over the institution. (Washington Post)
• Jorge Rueda Landeros was found guilty of murdering American University professor Sue Marcum in 2010. (WTOP)
• Police in Loudoun County say Jacob Bogatin set fire to his townhouse, killing his neighbor in the blaze, then filed an insurance claim “for more than double” what he owed on the home, which was in foreclosure. (WUSA9)
• The Nationals are set to hire Blake Butera as their next manager. The 33-year-old would be MLB’s “first manager under 35 since Frank Quilici took over the Minnesota Twins in 1972.” (Washington Post)
• Amazon says its planned layoffs won’t hit HQ2 very hard. (ARLnow)
• Meteorologists don’t expect a lot of snow in the area this winter. (Washington Post)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Nightmare in Navy Yard, a major dance jam, will bring three dance floors with fog and laser shows, more than 50 animatronics, three DJs, and a virtual reality experience to the DC Water headquarters.
Saturday: “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus,” a new adaptation by Paata Tsikurishvili and Nathan Weinberger, opens at Synetic Theater.
Sunday: It’s the last day of Clarendon Ballroom’s haunted multi-day dance fest.
See lots more picks for this scary weekend 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.
