Good morning. Mostly sunny today, with manageable humidity and a high around 86. A low near 66 overnight. RIP Sam Neill, who died today. He was 78.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Lud Roes, “Waiting for B.” Impressively heavy vintage grunge from this DC group. They play Fort Reno tonight with D.M.V. and Historically Close Friends.
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: Iran launched strikes against US targets in the Gulf region and said it had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz early Monday following US attacks against Iranian targets Sunday evening. (Reuters) Iran’s moves to control the strait reflect its “ambition to establish a new Pax Iranica in the Middle East.” (WSJ) Bolstering that claim: the memorandum of understanding President Trump signed to end the war he started with Iran in February “because of its language giving Iran official power in the strait and its vagueness in important phrases.” (NYT) For his part, Trump claimed the strait was open and said the US would retaliate heavily if Iran were to succeed at killing him. But such a “dead man’s switch” doesn’t exist legally. (AP) Oil prices rose Monday. (AP)
Lindsey Graham latest: US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died from an “aortic dissection,” DC officials said Sunday. (NYT) Here’s a good explanation of his roles and responsibilities in the Senate, which like the House, is in session again today. (Punchbowl News) Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is likely to take over the powerful Budget Committee Graham headed. (Politico) In South Carolina, “Republicans are starting to scramble” to choose his replacement. Trump has yet to say whom he’d prefer to replace Graham, though he hinted he had someone in mind. (NBC News) US Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina is “strongly considering” running. (Axios)
Mitch McConnell latest: The US senator from Kentucky released a photo of himself and his wife, Elaine Chao, yesterday. McConnell held a copy of the Washington Post’s Sunday sports section in the picture to tamp down rampant speculation about his medical condition. (Washington Post) He said he’d been hospitalized after a fall that left him “briefly unconscious.” (AP) Graham’s death and McConnell’s health concerns are “reminders that the Senate is run by a geriatric class of lawmakers.” (NYT)
Trump vs. the press: FBI Director Kash Patel led a White House-directed effort to investigate New York Times reporters who revealed the security limitations of Trump’s new luxury airplane, which was donated by Qatar. (NYT) At least four Times journalists received subpoenas Friday. The administration says they’re not targets of the investigation, which it says is aimed at finding their sources. (AP) Times lawyer David McCraw said the summonses were “nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.” (NYT)
Administration perambulation: Trump on Friday refused to sign bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering housing costs, saying his inaction was a protest against Congress’s inability to pass voting legislation he favors. The measure will become law unless he decides to veto it. (Politico) The administration is looking for more employees to reclassify as “at-will” in order to strip civil service protections from them. (NOTUS) A federal judge in DC “reluctantly granted” the Justice Department’s request to drop seditious conspiracy cases against members of the Proud Boys, “one of the last lingering loose ends” from Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Politico) DOJ is investigating United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain. (Reuters) Hunter Biden won $1.7 million in damages from his defamation case against former Overstock.com boss Patrick Byrne, who had claimed the former President’s son had sought a bribe from Iran. (Courthouse News)
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert:
Rose Ave, the Woodley Park bakery from pediatric-nurse-turned-chef Rose Nguyen, is putting out some of the city’s best, most artful grab-and-go breakfasts. If you’re in the mood for savory, her flaky, curried squash tart is stellar. But don’t leave without trying a pillowy brioche doughnut piped with passionfruit curd and rolled in raspberry sugar—or a just-sweet-enough hojicha latte. (2633 Connecticut Ave., NW.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• On display now at the Kennedy Center: A series of gold-leaf portraits of Trump, Elon Musk, and RFK Jr. apparently made by Patricia Duggan, a major Trump donor and prominent Scientologist.
• DC chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno will take over culinary operations at the Line DC Hotel and plan to eventually open a new restaurant there.
• Mac Hightower posted on Reddit when his brother, Ollie, went missing. Remarkably, Omar Hassan, who saw the post, found Ollie that morning.
Local news links:
Marble cinematic universe: It’s Monday. Let’s check in on the administration’s various projects around the District. ¶ The White House wants permanent fencing around Lafayette Square, which would allow it to quickly close the park at will. It’s also looking at “new fences where Pennsylvania Avenue NW intersects 15th and 17th streets NW.” (Washington Post) ¶ The Mall is still fenced off, despite the end of the Great American State Fair. (DC News Now) ¶ The Reflecting Pool is being drained once again. (AP) Greenwater Services, the firm the administration hired to dispatch algae from the water feature, also got a no-bid contract to do similar work on the Tijuana River. It doesn’t seem to have gone especially well. (Washington Post) ¶ Former project managers at the Kennedy Center allege that its management cut corners when selecting contractors for renovations. (NYT)
• The rapper Boosie Badazz has sued local convicted fraudsters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, saying the pair took money from him for a Trump pardon that failed to materialize. There are some really good details in this article. (NOTUS)
• FedEx flagged a suspicious shipment to a Woodbridge vape shop named Rat Pack Clubhouse to Virginia authorities, prompting a statewide investigation and eventually the arrest of its owner, Wilquins Charleston, on charges that an “illegal drug manufacturing and distribution operation” was operating within the business. (Washington Post)
• Police in Fairfax say they’ve arrested a husband whose wife was fatally shot last night. (WUSA9)
• Police in Montgomery County shot and killed a man who was reportedly seen loading a gun at a bus stop in Gaithersburg. (WTOP)
• DC Mayor Muriel Bowser introduced legislation Friday that would “that would speed up the eviction process” and “address some gripes from the business community about D.C.’s housing regulations.” (City Cast DC)
• A driver threw a cat from a moving car on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge yesterday. It survived. (WUSA9)
• Fairfax authorities on Friday rescued a raccoon who got his damn head stuck in a Dumpster. (DC News Now)
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.
