Good morning. Welcome to July: It’ll be sunny and very hot today, with a high around 99 that could feel like 108. A heat advisory is in effect from 11 AM until 8 PM. A low near 78 overnight. The Nationals wrap up a visit to Boston this afternoon. The Washington Freedom, our region’s Major League Cricket team, faces the Los Angeles Knight Riders in Pomona, California, today. 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:
Strike Anywhere, “Sunset on 32nd.” My week of songs about the USA continues with this Richmond band’s anthem about unevenly applied justice. Its protest is, on closer examination, a prescient and even hopeful document—one that encourages people to build communities that can sustain them no matter who’s in charge.
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:
Executive decisions: The US Supreme Court concluded its term yesterday with three big rulings. It struck down an executive order by President Trump that sought to end birthright citizenship, which it found violated the 14th Amendment. (AP) The justices allowed bans on trans people playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams. (SCOTUSblog) And the high court “lifted limits on Tuesday on how much political parties can spend on advertising and other expenses in coordination with candidates.” (NYT)
Step back: The court’s conservative majority may have handed Trump win after win on issues dear to the right, but it has “stiff-armed Trump over and over again on his unique personal priorities” like unlimited tariff power and election laws. (Politico) And John Roberts flexed his control of the court—the chief justice “voted in the majority more often than any of his colleagues.” (NYT) The court will hear more splashy cases next term. (SCOTUSblog)
Judiciary scare: NPR retracted an erroneous report by Nina Totenberg yesterday that said Associate Justice Samuel Alito had announced his retirement. (NYT) Totenberg misheard an announcement by Roberts about upcoming retirements, assumed it was about Alito, and told top editor Krishnadev Calamur, who okayed the publication of a prewritten story, the network’s public editor, Kelly McBride, reports. (NPR)
Incoming: Trump had a great 2025: He made more than $2 billion, according to new disclosures yesterday. That includes more than a billion from crypto ventures, tens of millions in settlements from media companies, and higher revenues at his properties. (Washington Post) Trump’s legislative priorities and pardons have enabled him and his family’s business to vacuum up vast sums. The White House says there’s no conflicts of interests to see here. (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Trump has “weighed a return to all-out war with Iran” but is okay with peace talks continuing for now. (WSJ) A federal judge in DC temporarily lifted a new Pentagon policy that requires journalists to have an escort while in the building. (NYT) Another federal judge in the District ruled that a group of activists holding an around-the-clock anti-Trump demonstration in DC may continue to display materials the administration doesn’t like, including a flag that reads “86 47.” (MS Now) Republicans will hold a midterm convention in Dallas this September, which, like so many other things that cross your screens these days, is unusual. (AP) Trump hosted his fellow election denier Tina Peters in the Oval Office yesterday. (Hill) The administration’s cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service are starting to show up in forecasts. (Gizmodo) DOGE’s cuts to humanities programs forced many small towns to scale back their plans to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. (NOTUS)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The administration unveiled its latest local project: Statues in Freedom Plaza that depict soldiers from the Revolutionary War.
• Here’s what we know so far about Saturday’s planned massive fireworks display.
• A first look at the Playground, Snarkitecture’s latest interactive installation at the Building Museum.
• Thinking of putting in a small water feature? Here’s what you need to know.
• This summer, you can find international ice cream flavors from India, Jamaica, and other countries around the region. (Get out there and support a small ice cream shop! Business actually slows down for them when it’s really hot.)
Local news links:
• Trump’s gargantuan fireworks display may get smoked out by typical July atmospheric conditions. (Capital Weather)
• The administration “secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million” to Clark Construction to build Trump’s ballroom at the White House. (Washington Post) Trump has also started construction on an unannounced helipad—dang it, that was what I was going to name my new band. (Washington Post)
• A DC violence prevention program got off to a suboptimal start Monday when a fight led to two teens being shot. (City Cast DC) Speaking of City Cast, Michael Schaffer, its executive editor, announced a newly staffed-up newsroom and contributors.
• A draft master plan for the RFK campus shows fewer parking spaces than originally announced and thousands of homes nearby. (NOTUS)
• Eagle Bancorp “will pay $9.8 million to settle a federal investigation into alleged improprieties involving money-laundering controls.” (WBJ)
• Bus driver Jing Sheng Dong will be in court today to answer charges that he caused a deadly crash on I-95 in May. (WUSA9)
• Police in Montgomery County say a 15-year-old driver collided with a cop, then drove into a Silver Spring house. (MoCoShow)
• DC cops say a driver intentionally hit a pedestrian early Sunday. Details remain scant. (WUSA9)
• Police in Prince William County say a woman threw a cup of bleach on a man she accused of stealing her bicycle. (DC News Now)
• Firefighters rescued two people and a cat from a house fire in Petworth overnight. (WUSA9)
• Virginia Railway Express bought an freight yard in Alexandria. (ALXnow)
Wednesday’s event picks:
• The National Air and Space Museum’s last renovated galleries reopen. (We got a sneak peek recently.)
• Take in a salute to Black Broadway at the Howard Theatre with “The Real Housewives of Potomac”‘s Ashley Darby and local stars including Nova Payton and Mumu Fresh.
• See some classic Fords at Union Station.
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.
