Good morning. Cloudy with showers today and a high around 66. Showers continue overnight with a low near 54. The Nationals wrap up a homestand against the Mets this afternoon.
Thanks to Ike Allen for covering for me yesterday. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
How well do you know DC? We launched a new game, Districted, that tests your geographical knowledge. Give it a try!
I can’t stop listening to:
Yaddiya and the Honest Politix, “Nah FR.” The DC bounce beat artist/activist/gallerist is also a great frontman—and he’ll bring his live band to Transmission tonight to play a “Go-Go Moshpit” show with Hue and Breezy Supreme.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
The war: Three tankers—two Chinese, one Korean—transited the Strait of Hormuz yesterday as Iran flexed its de facto control of the waterway. The strait has been effectively closed since President Trump started a war against Iran that’s now in its 83rd day. (Reuters) US Marines boarded and redirected an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman that the US believes was trying to evade the United States’ parallel blockade of Iranian ports. (Navy Times) Iranian state media reported Thursday that Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, will visit Tehran to try to restart negotiations between the US and Iran. (DW) Speaking about the war, Trump once again threatened to “go and finish it up” unless Iran signs a deal during a speech to graduates at the US Coast Guard Academy. (NYT)
Meanwhile, at home: US Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana voted to advance a resolution to end the war. Trump engineered Cassidy’s recent primary loss. (NBC News) The House will take up a war-powers vote today. (Axios) A majority of voters disapproved of the war in a recent poll. (Quinnipiac University)
The next war? The US indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro yesterday in the 1996 downing of two US civilian planes. Asked how the US might bring Castro northward to face charges, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “this isn’t a show indictment.” (CBS News) The US aircraft carrier Nimitz moved into waters near Cuba yesterday. (NYT)
Chamber music: GOP senators will drop an attempt to fund security improvements at Trump’s planned White House ballroom to the tune of $1 billion. Some Republicans are also likely to support a Democratic amendment that targets Trump’s taxpayer-funded slush fund for people who say they were victims of “weaponization”—like the January 6 rioters Trump pardoned. (Politico) Former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio called for “every J6er” to get payouts. (MMFA) Mike Lindell and OANN are also looking to receive money. (CNN) Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges, who as police officers helped defend the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, sued to block Trump’s slush fund. (NYT) Republicans in the House, who have a narrow majority, are worried that members may split early for the holiday weekend. (Punchbowl News) Trump’s pursuit of revenge against apostate Republicans in recent primary elections is “turning into a disaster” for him in Congress. (Axios)
Administration perambulation: Citing a report Congress approved in 1925 that called for columns on Columbia Island, the administration claimed it now doesn’t need Congress’s approval to build Trump’s planned triumphal arch on Memorial Circle. (Washington Post) As long as we’re going back in time, around the turn of the 20th century, the US dropped plans to install arch-like ceremonial towers on Memorial Bridge after landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. called them a “slap in the face to the Lincoln Memorial.” (Cultural Landscape Foundation) A federal judge in DC instructed White House aides to continue to abide by the 1978 Presidential Records Act, a previous act of Congress that the Justice Department now claims is unconstitutional. (Politico) DOJ charged indicted federal prosecutor Carmen Lineberger, who they say emailed herself a copy of former special counsel Jack Smith‘s report on Trump’s classified documents case. (NYT) Reynolds American, a tobacco company, donated $5 million to a Trump-backed super PAC before the administration decided to issue a policy that could make it easier for tobacco companies to sell flavored vapes. (NYT) Health Secretary RFK Jr. fired members of a panel that determines which medical practices are covered by Obamacare, a move that some experts fear means Kennedy “wants the task force to endorse his personal views about what’s preventive.” (Politico) Kari Lake, Trump’s ill-fated choice to head the US Agency for Global Media, earned money during her tenure from a 2023 book and a song released that same year called “81 Million Votes, My Ass.” (Notus)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Hainanese chicken rice often doesn’t look like much—gently poached, slightly anemic-looking skin-on breast meat served alongside a mound of jasmine rice—but when cooked right, the aroma of ginger and richness of the rice’s cooking broth turn it into something revelatory, a favorite across southeast Asia. A great version of its Thai variant, khao man gai, can be found at Ah Leng Chicken & Rice, a hard-to-find stall inside Lotte Plaza Market in Chantilly. Ah Leng’s chicken is perfectly supple and goes well with a zippy sauce of fermented soybean paste and ginger. There’s also a great crispy chicken with basil and sweet chili sauce—or you can get half-poached, half-crispy over rice. While you wait for your order, wander the aisles of Lotte Plaza, which is worth a visit in its own right for its dizzying variety of Korean, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American products. (13955 Metrotech Dr., Chantilly)
Take Hidden Eats with you! Our new map will show you which out-of-the-way mom-and-pop eateries Ike has highlighted near you.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Fewer open floor plans, natural light, home gyms: Real estate agents tell us the trends in what they’re seeing buyers prioritize.
• A visit to the last Armand’s in the area was also a journey to our reporter’s youth.
• Architects and designers share some of their favorite outdoor-dining-space projects.
Local news links:
• DC Water boss David Gadis told Congress the Potomac Interceptor sewer pipe will require more repairs. (Axios D.C.) Members of Congress grilled Park Service official Edward Wenschhof about a report that his agency for years delayed issuing permits to repair the pipeline. (NBC4 Washington)
• DC Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee will leave his job to run a nonprofit. (Washington Post) Ferebee also said he hasn’t yet heard from federal prosecutors after US Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed to seek truancy records for DC school kids as part of that whole Chipotle brawl thing. (WUSA9)
• Prince George’s County sheriff’s office spokesperson Taylor Thomas was suspended after an audit found she’d deposited county funds into personal accounts and used them in a wedding business she owns. (Baltimore Banner)
• Embattled DC police official Andre Wright officially retired. (WUSA9)
• Police in Alexandria say a 27-year-old man brandished a firearm at someone in a parking lot during a road rage incident in April. The suspect, Mikhail Wemmell, was apprehended in a nearby Wendy’s drive-through. (ALXnow)
• Bowie police officer Robert Warrington was found guilty of all charges—including second-degree murder and reckless endangerment—in a bizarre 2024 roadside shooting. (WTOP)
• A Tesla caught on fire on the Dulles Access Road, snarling traffic. One person was injured in the blaze. (WUSA9)
• Richard Gere dined at the Bombay Club. (Jessica Sidman/X)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Sting kicks off three nights of trio shows at Wolf Trap.
• Del Fest gets going in Cumberland, Maryland.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
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.
