Good morning. April showers will give us a good soak today, with wind gusts and a high around 53. Lovely weather for ducks, if you’re a not terribly critical duck. More rain overnight, with more gusts a low around 43.
Weekend sports: The Nationals are at the Marlins all weekend. The Capitals visit Columbus Saturday and host them on Sunday. The Wizards are at Chicago tonight and Miami on Sunday. The Washington Spirit visit Racing Louisville on Saturday. D.C. United will host FC Cincinnati on Saturday. Old Glory DC will visit the Nola Gold. The DC Defenders will take on the St. Louis Battlehawks on Sunday.
Our Cutest Dog Contest is now live. Get your best friend some fame!
You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. I’ll be away until next Friday, and my coworker Kate Corliss will write Washingtonian Today. Send her tips: kcorliss@washingtonian.com.
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I can’t stop listening to:
PsyOp, “Scumlord.” Yes. I’m in from the opening seconds. This DC hardcore group plays with Spy and Doubt at Comet Ping Pong Saturday.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Border in the courts: The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to make efforts to bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the US and sent his case back to a lower court, saying it may have exceeded its authority when it ordered Abrego Garcia’s immediate return. The administration deported the Maryland man to El Salvador in error. (NYT) Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted that the administration was right to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist, in a memo that stated, as the Associated Press describes it, that “Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.” (AP) ICE shared a graphic, which it says was sent in error, that said the immigration agency would stop “ideas” from entering the US. (HuffPost) The administration will require everyone in the US illegally to register with the federal government. (AP) It added hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are in the US legally to Social Security’s “death master file,” effectively cutting them off from financial services. (NYT)
Duties now for the future: The administration raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent on top of previous levies. (NYT) China called the new duties a “joke” and raised its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent. The dollar is down, the Euro is up, and financial markets are oscillating wildly. (WSJ) The administration has sidelined its trade guy, Peter Navarro. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is “now at the helm” of its trade shop. (Politico) The administration hopes to rapidly cut trade deals with more than 70 countries. (WSJ) “Past trade deals have taken years to complete.” (Politico)
Witness for the retribution: Trump’s order for DOJ to investigate two officials in his first term “send a stark message: To oppose Mr. Trump will mean risking punishment at the hands of the federal government.” (NYT) Workers at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “say they feel like they’re under attack, not from their usual adversaries but from the administration they work under.” (NBC News) The administration yanked Kathleen Sgamma‘s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management after her criticism of the January 6 riot emerged. (Washington Post)
DOGE stop believing: Elon Musk keeps lowering the amount he says his DOGE project will save the government. (NYT) “A Wall Street Journal analysis of daily financial statements issued by the Treasury Department found government spending since the inauguration is $154 billion more than in the same period in 2024 during the administration of President Joe Biden.” (WSJ)
Administration perambulation: The administration wants a consent decree that would allow oversight of Columbia University. (WSJ) More law firms appear ready to bend the knee. (NYT) The CDC laid off all the full-time staffers in its Vessel Sanitation Program, which investigates disease outbreaks on cruise ships. Their work was funded by cruise operators rather than the government. (CBS News) The Pentagon removed Space Force Colonel Susannah Meyers from command of Greenland’s Pituffik base. (NYT) Meyers sent an email that distanced the base from Vice President JD Vance‘s “criticism of Denmark and its oversight of the territory.” (Military.com) Staff cuts have begun at the National Endowment for the Humanities. (Washington Post) The agency intends to redirect some of its funding to build President Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes.” (NYT)
One rather snazzy open house
This 10,400-square-foot house in North Bethesda, built in 1978 and renovated a few years ago, boasts its own gym, movie theater, and a climate-controlled seven-car garage. Plus: a heated pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen, and a basketball/tennis court. It’s listed at $4.99 million. See more of Kate Corliss’s picks for this weekend’s open houses here.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Luxury home sales last month.
• A profile of Ingrid Newkirk, who cofounded PETA in Rockville and at 76 is still advocating for animal rights.
• New ice cream and gelato shops.
Local news links:
• DC will begin to phase in budget cuts after the House left town without fixing the hole it blew in the District’s budget. (Axios D.C.)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser cut the ribbon on Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center on the St. Elizabeths campus. (WTOP)
• Two planes traded paint on the runway at National Airport. A bunch of members of Congress from New York were aboard one of them. (WABC)
• Metro approved a new budget of nearly $5 billion. (WTOP)
• A twofer from Martin Austermuhle: 1) Adam Eidinger, who successfully led ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis, eliminate the tipped minimum wage, and decriminalize psychedelics, will target public funding of a Commanders stadium at RFK; and 2) Adams Morgan resident Daniel Bernier has proposed an end to changing back and forth from daylight saving time. (The 51st)
• Unemployment is up by a lot in Northern Virginia. (ARLnow)
• The administration has begun to add local properties back to GSA’s for-sale list. (WBJ)
• US Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn want to transfer the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Udvar-Hazy Center to Houston. (WUSA9)
• “Gregg had the rizz to pull it off”: Please enjoy this video of a Prince William County Public Libraries employee reading a script written by Gen-Z’ers. (Facebook)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Party in the shadows of HQ2 at the immersive nighttime art gathering Art of Pink.
Saturday: The National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade takes over Constitution Avenue.
Sunday: The Washington Concert Opera performs Luisa Miller at Lisner.
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.
Thank you to Jesse O’Connell for “DOGE stop believing.” I’ll see you next Friday.
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.
