Good morning. September is off to a stifling start: humid with a high near 94 today and heat index values as high as 101. Some storms are possible later. The Nationals host Atlanta this evening.
🌎 How well do you know the District? Play our new geography game and test your local knowledge. 📫 Ike Allen here, filling in for Andrew. You can find my food coverage on Instagram and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here.
I can’t stop listening to:
Patti Smith Group, “Ask the Angels.” An all-time favorite of mine by the punk rock bard, who plays the Atlantis tonight with her quartet.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Half-court shot: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s White House ballroom project to proceed, finding the National Trust for Historic Preservation did not have the legal right to challenge it. (AP) Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, writing that the project was “likely unlawful” because Congress had not approved its funding, and calling the decision “no victory for the separation of powers.” (The Hill)
Start the steal?: The Republican National Committee and the Trump administration, looking to make it easier to do last-minute purges of voter rolls, asked the Supreme Court to weaken a federal requirement to finish these purges 90 days before an election. (Democracy Docket) Meanwhile, the Census Bureau quietly cut language banning political interference from its policy documents, soon after issuing a report with claims about non-citizen voting. (NPR) A US Postal Service whistleblower alleged that Trump officials are advancing a “secretive, rushed” effort to exert federal control over mail voting, in violation of a court order. (NYT) The Department of Homeland Security is planning to launch a voter fraud investigation surge in nine states ahead of the midterms. (CNN) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine says the US military has no plans to be at polling places in November, as had been suggested by some close Trump allies. (Politico)
Penta-gone: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation after months of clashing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his firings of generals. (WSJ) Driscoll had told Trump about his concerns directly at a White House meeting last month, surprising the president with information about how many top officers had been fired or pushed out under Hegseth. (The Atlantic)
Administration perambulation: Since two people—including a newborn—died of measles in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have been sparring over their cause of death. Erica Schwartz, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has decided to exclude the deaths from its measles database. (Washington Post) Kalshi issued its first-ever lifetime ban to George Santos— and more politician bans could be on the way. (Semafor) The Pentagon is getting into the Venezuelan oil business through an unusual, controversial private partnership with businessman Alejandro Betancourt López. (NYT) The Department of Transportation and the DHS have shut down hundreds of trucking schools as part of a crackdown on immigrant commercial truck drivers. (NOTUS) The White House bowling alley will get a $250,000 upgrade. (Politico) In an unusually amiable Truth Social post, Trump called for bipartisan legislation to help the movie and TV industry with federal tax incentives. Actor Jon Voight seems to have been involved. (NBC News) Most Americans oppose building more data centers in their communities, but Trump wrote that communities who don’t want to go along must prefer being “backwards and poor.” (NYT) A new poll shows his approval rating at 32 percent. (The Hill)
Pilot your own electric boat, by Daniella Byck:
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Are Metro escalators actually unusually slow?
• Our guide to the best Ethiopian food around the DMV right now.
• This computer science professor wrote a book encouraging you to gentle parent your dog.
• Food critic Ann Limpert reviews two new restaurants that conjure bygone eras: The Oak Room and The Riggsby.
Local news links:
• The Smithsonian voted to put the National Museum of the American Latino in the historic Arts and Industries Building rather than building a new structure, which would require congressional approval. (Washington Post)
• ICE arrested more than a dozen people after a 16-year-old was shot and killed at a quinceañera in Fauquier County in August. (NBC4)
• Fault lines between progressives and moderates in the DC Democratic Party have only deepened since the primary. (The 51st)
• Trump’s major renovations to the East Potomac Golf Links begin today. (WTOP)
• DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing Allyson Abrams, the founder of two local nonprofits, accusing her of pocketing addiction treatment grant funds. (Washington Informer)
• Real estate agents say data centers are driving some Northern Virginia residents out of the area. (Axios DC)
• A 12-year-old boy in Temple Hills saved his mother by stabbing her boyfriend during a domestic attack. (Fox 5)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• Under 5’4″? Check out this clothing swap for petite folks at Rhizome.
• The space movie Project Hail Mary is screening for free at MLK Library.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
