Good morning. The news outside is frightful, but the weather is so delightful: sunny with a high of 66 and a low of 44 overnight. The Wizards lost to Portland last night. The Capitals host Detroit tonight, with Alex Ovechkin eight goals away from breaking the all-time NHL scoring record. The “first four” play-in round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament begins tonight—get your brackets together, already!—but the game between American and Mount St. Mary’s tips off at 6:40 PM on Wednesday. I’m filling in for regular Washingtonian Today author Andrew Beaujon. You can find me on Bluesky, and my email is linked at bottom of this post.
I can’t stop listening to:
The Knife, “Heartbeats” (live). Probably you’ve heard José González’s acoustic cover. Maybe you’re familiar with the electro-pop original version, which was the lead single for the Swedish duo’s 2003 album Deep Cuts. For my money, the far-and-away best rendition of “Heartbeats” is this live performance, which trades some of the original’s jauntiness for a more sedate, slightly haunting synthscape that recalls Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”—and in the process, transforms a song about romantic connections found and lost into something like an elegy.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
• During a Kennedy Center visit, President Trump suggested giving awards to Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth, and Luciano Pavarotti—even though Kennedy Center Honors are not awarded posthumously, and Pavarotti was already honored in 2001. (“Elvis sells better as a dead man,” Trump said, which is … maybe not wrong?)
But that’s not all! The president floated hosting the awards ceremony himself, said some previous honorees were “just, just terrible,” and suggested having networks bid on the program. He also mentioned bringing Cats to the center; shared stories about the first time he saw that musical; discussed which members of its cast he found attractive; and reacted to news that Hamilton had canceled upcoming performances at the center by stating, “I never liked Hamilton very much.”
In addition, Trump said the center itself was in “tremendous disrepair,” while members of his team said the building was “filthy.” One member claimed to have seen “rats” and said that the center “smelled like vomit.” (Washington Post)
• The Trump administration is still stiff-arming (note: not a legal term) federal judge James E. Boasberg, who has demanded that the government explain why it appeared to violate a weekend court order requiring planes deporting migrants to turn around mid-flight. Is a Constitutional crisis incoming, or is it already here? (Washington Post)
• DOGE officials entered the headquarters of the DC-based US Institute for Peace—which Trump has ordered to be dismantled—and evicted its officials. USIP officials called the action “an illegal takeover” and say that because they are a congressionally-chartered nonprofit, Trump and DOGE have no authority to gut their operations. Institute officials also claim that after they called DC police to report DOGE members as trespassing, the police cleared institute leaders from the building. (New York Times)
• Trump claimed in social media posts that President Biden’s preemptive pardons of his family members and House members on the committee that investigated the January 6 attacks are “void, vacant, and of not further force of effect” because they were signed with an autopen. Trump also claimed that Biden “didn’t have any idea” that the pardons were taking place, that staffers who used the autopen “may have committed a crime,” and that committee members would now be “subject to investigation at the highest level.” The president did not substantiate his claims with any actual evidence, which—we think?—still matters. (Wall Street Journal)
• Trump announced that he has revoked secret service protection for Biden’s children Hunter and Ashley. (Reuters) He also promised to release approximately 80,000 pages related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy this afternoon. (New York Times)
• The National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the nation’s nearly 4,000 nuclear bombs and warheads, has been hit hard by Trump administration buyouts and firings—despite already being understaffed. What could go wrong? (New York Times)
• Trump cuts to the federal workforce are degrading public services, including canceled heath programs for veterans, slowed efforts to give disabled children classroom access, and paused summer campsite reservations at Yosemite National Park. (Wall Street Journal)
• Andrea R. Lucas, the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sent letters to 20 prominent law firms suggesting that in trying to recruit minorities and people of color, the firms could have discriminated against white candidates. Finally, someone standing up for elite white lawyers! (New York Times)
• A French member of the European Parliament—exactly the kind of person the Trump administration respects and listens to—said that America should give back the Statue of Liberty because the country no longer represents the values that led his nation to offer it as a gift. (Le Monde) In response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Absolutely not. My advice to that unnamed low-level French politician would be to remind them that it’s only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now.” Sorry, Karoline, but Otto in A Fish Called Wanda did this bit first, and better. (Politico)
• 1990s one-hit wonders Semisonic are not happy that the Trump administration used their 1998 song “Closing Time” in a video appearing to show migrant deportations. Yet another entry in the increasingly long list of Real True Things That 1990s Me Simply Would Not Believe Would Happen In The Future, Even If You Hopped Out Of A Still-Smoking DeLorean To Tell Me Directly. (Washington Post)
3 places to experience March Madness, by Daniella Byck
March Madness kicks off this week. It is essentially a combination of Christmas, cherry blossoms, and new pandas for college basketball fans*. If you’ve got your bracket ready to go, sport your team colors and head to a bar to watch among the mad masses. Tom’s Watch Bar in Navy Yard will show every game in the men’s and women’s tournaments across massive screens, including a 360-degree viewing room. Park View beer garden The Midlands will also show the matchups and offer $5 beer specials. At Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Sports & Social will show the tournament on an 18-foot screen. Tournament specials include $5 build-your-own burgers.
(*Bias alert: As a badger I’ll obviously be cheering on No. 3 seed Wisconsin, and yeah, I’m still holding a grudge against Duke and the referees for the call that cost us the 2015 championship!).
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• A coalition of liberal groups are planning nationwide anti-Trump protests on April 5—and the flagship “Hands Off!” march will take place in DC.
• Murals by local artists and “goal counters” around town will be part of the Capitals’ plan to celebrate Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL all-time goals scored record.
• Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has postponed book tour events this week—including planned talks at Baltimore’s Central Library and DC’s Sixth and I synagogue—for “security reasons.” Social media posts have encouraged protests at those events following Schumer supporting a GOP resolution to keep the government funded through September.
The Dumbest Thing I Read Today (So Far), by Patrick Hruby
Did your favorite school just miss out on March Madness? If so, did you immediately promise to bring the full investigatory force of your favorite school’s home state government to bear on this outrage? No? Well, guess what: you simply don’t want it as much as West Virginia Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey, who in a Monday press conference announced that his attorney general will be launching an investigation into the NCAA Tournament selection committee for not including the University of West Virginia’s men’s basketball team in the field of 68. “This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels,” Morrisey said, promising to find out if “any backroom deals, corruption, bribes or any nefarious activity” led to the Mountaineers getting snubbed. Maybe Cyber Ninjas can run an audit. (CBS Sports)
Local news links:
• The DC Attorney General’s Office dropped a lawsuit against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over the January 6 attacks, ending the first effort by a government agency to hold individuals and organizations civilly liable for violence at the Capitol. (Washington Post)
• The largest Lego cathedral in the world—which ultimately will be made of over 500,000 toy bricks, weigh 1,350 pounds, and be “roughly the size of a minivan”—is under construction at the National Cathedral, and is expected to be completed in “five or six more years.” (WTOP)
• Virginia’s GOP gubernatorial candidates are furiously fighting over who loves Trump the most, with one candidate promising to do to Virginia’s state government what DOGE has done to Washington. The fever: still not breaking! (Washington Post)
• The Washington Commanders have joined DC’s lobbying efforts to persuade House Republicans to prevent a $1 billion cut to the city’s 2025 budget. New publicly-funded stadiums don’t, uh, fund themselves. (Washington Post)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• The PostClassical Ensemble performs Nino Rota scores at Kennedy Center.
• Miriam Zoila Pérez celebrates their debut young adult novel Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters at Politics and Prose.
• Comedy troupe Foil Arms and Hog bring sketch comedy to Capital One Hall.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
It’s only Tuesday. Elbows up! There’s a whole lot of week ahead.
