Good morning. Sunny with a high around 83 today. A low near 60 overnight. The Nationals host the Marlins once again this afternoon. 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:
Peabo Bryson, “What You Won’t Do for Love.” The “Voice of Love” died Tuesday. He was 75.
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: An Iranian drone hit Kuwait’s airport overnight. Some people were injured and flights were canceled. The US struck an island in the Strait of Hormuz and shot down some Iranian missiles and drones it said Iran had used to target US troops in the region. (BBC News) Iran said it had cut off talks about a peace deal with the US, but President Trump insisted they were ongoing. (AP) Nevertheless, Secretary of State Marco Rubio displayed optimism about an eventual deal when he appeared before lawmakers yesterday. (AP) Iran advertised its ability to close the strait a few weeks before Trump started this war in late February. (NYT)
It just so happens that your fund here is only mostly dead: The Justice Department will abandon plans to establish a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay people, including January 6 rioters, who felt they’d been victims of government “weaponization,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers yesterday. (NOTUS) But! Blanche also said the politically toxic fund’s apparent demise “would not affect the separate agreement shielding Mr. Trump from audits of tax returns he and his family had already filed.” (NYT) The death of the fund won’t foreclose DOJ’s ability to make payments to settle claims from, say, January 6 rioters who file lawsuits. (Politico) Meanwhile: The Pentagon hired Capitol rioter Elias Irizarry, who Trump pardoned last year, to a team that oversees “operations such as embassy security, personnel recovery and hostage rescue.” (Washington Post)
Into the Pulte-verse: Trump named Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte to be the acting director of national intelligence. (NBC News) Pulte, who will keep his mortgage agency job, was a driving force behind the administration’s ill-fated pursuits of several of Trump’s perceived enemies over mortgage matters, but he has no experience in intelligence. His appointment delighted Steve Bannon and horrified some in the intelligence community. (Politico) Democrats in the Senate could use the unfinished FISA deal to pressure Republicans to buck Pulte’s appointment. (Punchbowl News)
Administration perambulation: DOJ is investigating former US Representative George Santos, who placed bets on Kalshi that he wouldn’t show up for the State of Union address after he announced he was on his way. He didn’t make the speech, claiming he was the victim of travel delays. (NPR) In an appearance before lawmakers, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin “repeatedly refused Tuesday to commit to following court orders from judges who rule that the Department of Homeland Security is acting illegally.” (Politico) The White House released a proposal that would “require all federal grants to be approved by the president’s political appointees.” (NYT) The Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use a congressional map that eliminates one of its two Black-majority districts. (NBC News) The White House Correspondents’ Association will reschedule its dinner for July 24 at the Waldorf Astoria in DC—the former Trump Hotel. Trump said he’d be there. (CBS News) The Agriculture Department’s George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville is home to the agency’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service. The building has a serious bedbug problem, and the irony of the situation “was lost on no one.” (NOTUS)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Things have always been pretty wild at the US Capitol, according to Brian Jay Jones‘s new “biography” of the building.
• The new dive bar (the owners prefer “neighborhood bar”) Franks Wild Years has opened. Have a look inside.
Local news links:
• NOTUS’s plan to rebrand as the Star is on hold. A rival publication called the Washington Star (ironically, the name of a publication once owned by NOTUS funder Robert Allbritton‘s father) persuaded a federal judge to block the name change for now. There’s a hearing scheduled for next month. (City Cast DC)
• Virginia Tech rector John Rocovich has refused to resign, despite Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger removing him from his gig. (Virginia Mercury)
• A new study says the National Guard’s presence in DC has cut down on property crime—but not violent crime. (WTOP)
• Metro Transit police say they’ve “issued 807 citations and made 51 arrests” since a fare-evasion crackdown began late last month. (DC News Now)
• Police in Prince George’s County are looking for someone they say shot an Upper Marlboro woman multiple times in her driveway Tuesday morning. (NBC4 Washington)
• Police in Fairfax say a man threatened people with a knife, then ran into an IHOP where customers and staff fled. He proceeded to steal money, the cops say. (WUSA9)
• A pursuit that began in DC with US Park Police chasing a reportedly stolen vehicle on Rock Creek Parkway ended in Bethesda. Four minors are in custody. (DC News Now)
• Cops in Woodbridge are looking for three teenage boys they say broke into a Sky Zone to jump on trampolines. (WUSA9)
• Michelle Obama sent a video message to new graduates of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. (Bethesda Today)
• Commanders season ticket holders will get access to a sub-$10 value menu at the stadium. (WTOP)
• The Prime Rib on K Street will close. (PoPville)
• A service dog relieved itself on a flight from Nashville to DC yesterday, sickening some passengers and leading to an emergency response at National Airport. (NBC4 Washington)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• A new exhibition about the contributions locals have made to US history and culture opens at MLK Library.
• “Shrek 2” shows outdoors at the Wharf.
See more picks for today and this week 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.
