Good morning. Cloudy with a high around 34 today and scattered snow showers after 3 PM. Temperatures will plunge to near 14 overnight, and the National Weather Service has issued a high wind advisory and a cold weather advisory beginning at 4 AM on Saturday.
Sports this weekend: The Wizards visit the Nets on Saturday and host Miami on Sunday.
You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, 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:
Matthew Shipp, “A Cosmic Thank You.” The avant-jazz pianist plays at Takoma Park’s Tonal Park Studios tonight.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of last year’s music recommendations. I’ll make one soon for 2026.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Sign of the times: President Trump asked Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to slap his name on Penn Station and Dulles Airport in exchange for funding the Gateway project that will add a new tunnel between New York and New Jersey. (Punchbowl News) Schumer declined the offer. (Politico) TrumpRx, the government prescription-drug brokering website named for the President, launched yesterday. Researchers say it’s unlikely to save its users money. (NYT)
The ICE storm: The Department of Homeland Security requested expedited deportation hearings for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy it took from Minnesota and detained in Texas last month. The family’s attorney called the move “retaliatory.” (MPR News) Senate negotiations about funding DHS appeared to stall yesterday. Democrats want changes to ICE and Border Patrol tactics. The department, which also oversees the Coast Guard and TSA, could shut down next week, though ICE operations will continue. (NYT) Here’s a good look at the dynamics of Congress vis-a-vis a deal. (Punchbowl News) DHS’s inspector general disclosed that it’s conducting numerous independent investigations into ICE and CBP. (Politico) Mobile Fortify, the app ICE and CBP use to identify people by their faces, “is not designed to reliably identify people in the streets.” (Wired)
Administration perambulation: The administration is posed to publish a new rule today that will remove job protections from as many as 50,000 federal employees. (Government Executive) The White House keeps changing its story on why Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present at an FBI raid on a Georgia election facility. (NYT) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is no longer the acting director of the National Archives. Rubio is also interim national security adviser. (Politico) Health Secretary RFK Jr. said more dumb stuff. (NYT) US Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan will not comply with a DOJ investigation into a video she made with other senators that reminded troops they don’t have to obey illegal orders. (AP) Christopher Moynihan, one of the January 6 rioters Trump pardoned, pleaded guilty to threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (Reuters) Colin Demarco of Rockville was arrested in Arlington last month and charged with threatening to kill OMB Director Russell Vought. (CBS News) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during questioning from Congress yesterday that taxpayers would be on the hook if Trump prevailed in his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, which he oversees, over the leak of his tax records by a contractor. (TNR)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This six bedroom/six bathroom house in Bethesda has high ceilings, multiple balconies, and a roof deck. It’s listed at $3.3 million, and you can see it this weekend, along with our other picks for the best open houses.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• These bars and restaurants will be swell places to watch the Winter Olympics. Keep an eye out for local Olympians over the next couple of weeks.
• Reactions to the mass layoffs this week at the Washington Post. Here are photos from a rally yesterday outside the building.
• It’s Black History Month. Here are nine ways to celebrate.
• The annal Alexandria Warehouse Sale starts Saturday. Here’s what you need to know.
• Nineteen Buddhist monks will end a trek from Texas in DC next week.
• This wedding featured a lush canopy of flowers.
Local news links:
• The reason you didn’t read about the Post’s layoffs in the Post? Executive Editor Matt Murray killed a story about it. (Status) Post Publisher Will Lewis hasn’t met with the publication’s employees for months and didn’t join a phone call to explain the hundreds of layoffs he’s overseen at the publication or the demolition of its sports desk. But he did find time to attend the NFL Honors in San Francisco. (Nicki Jhabvala/X) Post union members have posted “Wanted” posters featuring Lewis near his $7 million Georgetown home.
• Democrats in Virginia proposed a new electoral map that will eliminate all but one Republican seat in the House. (NYT)
• Boar’s Head reopened a Virginia plant that closed amid a deadly listeria outbreak in 2024. (AP)
• People protested outside the Arlington home of Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta yesterday. They say the company accommodates ICE personnel in Minnesota and elsewhere. (ARLnow)
• A driver plowed into a hibachi restaurant in Montgomery Village. (WUSA9)
• US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia reintroduced legislation to remove Robert E. Lee‘s name from Arlington House. (ARLnow)
• DC Battalion Fire Chief Keith T. Long died in the line of duty this week. (ABC7)
• The story currently lighting up group texts in my neighborhood: King Arthur Baking Company plans to open a store in Old Town this year. (ALXnow)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The annual Chocolate Lovers Festival opens a three-day run in Fairfax City.
Saturday: It’s your last chance to see “Paranormal Activity” at Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Sunday: Here’s where you can order takeout or watch the big game.
See lots more picks for the weekend 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.
