Good morning. Mostly sunny with a high around 88 today. A low near 69 overnight. The Nationals wrap up a four-game homestand against the Phillies this evening. The Washington Freedom, the region’s Major League Cricket team, plays the Seattle Orcas in Oakland. 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:
St. Vincent, “Digital Witness.” Can Annie Clark‘s carefully structured music bear even more sounds, even more exploration of its farthest corners? I wouldn’t have thought so before I heard the recent live album she recorded with an orchestra in London last year, a joyful jaunt through her catalog that wrings even more meaning from her songs. She’ll repeat the experiment tonight at Wolf Trap with the NSO.
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:
A spirited exchange of views: President Trump abruptly canceled plans yesterday to sign a bipartisan bill that aims to reduce housing costs, saying he wouldn’t do it unless the Senate passes a voting overhaul measure that Majority Leader John Thune says lacks enough support to succeed. Then the President visited the Senate for a lunch that turned weird: He clashed with US Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, said no one at his rallies cares about housing, and complained about US Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania missing a war powers vote—which happened because McCormick accompanied Trump to a rally in Lehigh County. (WSJ) “Instead of spending the day celebrating, aides and lobbyists were left scrambling to pick up the pieces.” (Politico) GOP lawmakers quickly bent the knee anyway, passing a symbolic refutation of the largely symbolic war powers bill that passed the day before with Republican help. (NYT) The White House asked Congress for $88 billion to pay for the Iran war. (Axios)
EO cons: A federal judge in Boston blocked a Trump executive order that would have required people to prove they have US citizenship before voting, saying it was unconstitutional. (AP) Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship is also likely heading toward defeat at the Supreme Court. (Politico) Meanwhile: Postmaster General David Steiner told senators that in order to comply with a different executive order, the post office is unlikely to deliver mail-in ballots—another Trump obsession—unless states provide the feds with citizenship data about voters. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Trump spoke for only about a half hour at a rally on the Mall last night. Crowds who were once promised performances by Martina McBride and Young MC got appearances from Lee Greenwood and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy instead. (AP) The Interior Department has forbidden its employees—which include people who work at the National Park Service—to acknowledge deaths or severe injuries at national parks. (Washington Post) A federal judge in New Jersey zapped a Justice Department lawsuit against four Garden State cities that the administration considers “sanctuary” jurisdictions. (NYT) Three International Criminal Court judges sued the administration in federal court in New York over sanctions it imposed on them after the court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and investigated “alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.” (Reuters) Almost 60 percent of voters polled don’t think Trump’s Iran deal will work. (Quinnipiac University) The Barbie Pond on Avenue Q is lampooning Trump’s Reflecting Pool troubles. (Instagram)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Venezuelan cooking often tastes familiar, even if you’ve never tried it. That’s partly because it incorporates some of the same foolproof staples—stewed and grilled meats, slow-cooked black beans, sweet plantains, and tangy white cheese—as other South and Central American cuisines. But it’s also because the Venezuelan recipe book is a scrapbook of the cuisines brought to Caracas by immigrants from China, Italy, the Middle East. At DC Al Toque, Adriana Rodriguez and Misael Amaya’s recently opened one-stop-shop for Venezuelan cuisine, they make tasty tequeños and pabellón criollo, distinctly Venezuelan dishes. But don’t ignore the arroz chino— a satisfying Venezuelan-style wok-fried rice with shrimp and pork worthy of your favorite Cantonese place. (3910 14th Street, Northwest.)
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Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• A federal judge ordered the Kennedy Center’s board to explain why it covered its façade with a tarp after it removed Trump’s name. Here’s a look back on how we got to this situation, and why the center is likely to remain dark even if it stays open this summer.
• The country singer Alexis Wilkins has nine songs and seven thousand or so followers on Spotify. And she still managed to secure a headline spot at last night’s Trump rally on the Mall. It’s almost as if her relationship with FBI Director Kash Patel got her the gig—something she dismisses as a “false narrative.”
Local news links:
• The administration is soliciting even more work on the Reflecting Pool, which suggests purported vandals are not the water feature’s only problem. But! Contractors must now promise to keep its water clear. (NOTUS)
• Protesters shut down the Taft Bridge in DC yesterday. They want answers about a US Park Police pursuit of a stolen car that killed delivery driver Nolberto Meza. (WUSA9)
• Alexandria’s outgoing schools superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt abruptly took a leave of absence. (ALXnow)
• A man was killed in a stabbing outside a Giant in Oxon Hill. (DC News Now)
• A DC man who shot and killed another man in an argument over a grill was found guilty of murder. (DC News Now)
• A bomb threat hoax closed Springfield Town Center on Tuesday evening. (FFXnow)
Thursday’s event picks:
• The Lincoln Memorial’s new museum opens today. (We got a sneak peek.)
• Isaac Butler discusses his new book “The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars” with Dan Kois at Politics and Prose.
• Watch the Aussie comedy “Kangaroo” outdoors in Adams Morgan.
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.
