Good morning. A mostly sunny day awaits, with light breezes and a high around 54. Clear overnight, with a low near 36.
Sports this weekend: The Capitals host Vegas Friday and visit Montreal Saturday. The Wizards host Toronto Saturday.
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:
Two Thumbs Down, “Connecting.” The Philly/DC band plays a record release show at Comet Ping Pong Saturday.
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.
Tell *us* where to go: Typically, we’re the ones giving readers travel recommendations. But this year, we’re asking you to share your opinions, too. Nominate your favorite place to stay in our travel survey, and you could win a $100 gift card—and your picks may end up in our May issue.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
The President elects: MAGA activists want President Trump to “declare a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.” A draft executive order claims that foreign interference is occurring and would require voters to re-register and provide citizenship information, among other measures. (Washington Post) Election power rests with states, and such an order would be unconstitutional, experts say. (Democracy Docket) Mark Ditlevson, Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, avoided questions from senators yesterday about whether the feds will deploy National Guard troops to polling places. (Defense One) Meanwhile: The Department of Justice sued New Jersey, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia for voter roll data. It’s now seeking such data from more than two dozen states. (Politico) Related: Trump endorsed Phil Berger, a state senate leader in North Carolina, in a primary—an unusual foray into state politics. (Washington Post)
Laser beams and crushed dreams: The US military fired a laser at another object in the sky near El Paso—which turned out to be a drone operated by Customs and Border Protection. Earlier this month, CBP fired a laser at what turned out to be party balloons. “The Trump administration’s incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies,” US Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said in a statement. (AP) The Department of Homeland Security detained hundreds of Dreamers, people who should have been protected by DACA, and deported 86 of them, Secretary Kristi Noem told Congress. (Politico) Noem’s DHS has acquired more luxury jets. (Gillian Brockell) A new book by Julia Ainsley “depicts the Department of Homeland Security as a dysfunctional fiefdom in Trump’s Washington empire.” (The Atlantic) Minnesota’s top federal judge “threatened potential criminal consequences for officials who he said were continuing to violate court orders at a historic clip amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push.” (Politico) Federal immigration agents lied about searching for a missing child on their way to arrest Columbia student Ellie Aghayeva yesterday. She was released after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked Trump to let her go during a meeting at the White House. (NYT) Police in Denver will “detain federal agents who use deadly force,” according to a new executive order by the city’s mayor. (Politico) Meanwhile: The US now “aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month.” (Reuters)
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein: A photo that showed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick visiting a private island owned by the disgraced, deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein vanished from the government’s public release of its files on Epstein before it was restored last night. (CBS News) House Republicans grilled former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York yesterday about Epstein, whom she said she did not know. (NYT) The deposition halted for a half hour after US Representative Lauren Boebert, in defiance of the rules set for the meeting, sent a photo of Clinton to noted plagiarist, unwitting Russian propaganda money recipient, and MAGA influencer Benny Johnson, who promptly posted it online. (Axios) Clinton said Republicans also asked her about UFOs and Pizzagate. (Washington Examiner) The committee will question former President Bill Clinton today. (Politico)
Administration perambulation: Vice President JD Vance says there’s “no chance” the US will be drawn into a long war in Iran. (Washington Post) The AI company Anthropic won’t allow the Department of Defense unfettered access to its AI thing or whatever Claude, endangering its government contract. (Washington Post) Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a transaction Trump had increasingly gotten involved in, which means the media company is likely to end up with David Ellison‘s Paramount. (NYT) This means CNN, one of Trump’s favorite targets, will be under the control of one of one of his allies. (Status) The Federal Reserve asked a judge to quash subpoenas US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro has issued in her increasingly politically perilous criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. (WSJ) The US Agency for Global Media offered a new round of buyouts to employees. (Politico) First lady Melania Trump will preside over a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, a first for that organization. (AP)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home in Vienna sprawls over 7,000 square feet and four levels and features a gourmet kitchen, a private loft, and a 600-square-foot rooftop terrace. It’s listed at $2,559,888, and you can see it Sunday. See more photos and our other picks for the weekend’s best open houses.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Joan Miró at the Phillips, Lady Gaga at Capital One, and an indie-rock musical at Signature: Here’s our list of the best cultural events coming to town in March.
• Nothing on the menu costs more than $30 at Ulivo, a new casual, candle-lit Italian spot in Park View.
• Recent luxury real estate transactions in the region—and the boldfaced names who made them.
• The Washington Spirit unveiled new uniforms inspired by DC’s cherry blossoms.
• Three Whistles, a “third place” café with roots in Clarendon, just opened a flagship location in Brightwood.
• Vintage Vintage Vintage DC’s Something Old: A Vintage Bridal Show will pop up at the Square next Saturday.
Local news links:
• A federal judge in DC “has again rebuffed preservationists’ attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s plan to build a massive ballroom atop the site of the now-demolished East Wing of the White House.” (Politico)
• The British chain Caffè Nero officially acquired Compass Coffee’s assets in bankruptcy court yesterday, which “clears the way for Caffè Nero to position itself as a significant new entrant into the Washington, D.C. coffee market,” a lawyer for the company tells Washingtonian in an email. Compass co-founder Michael Haft said he’s “taken enough hits in the coffee industry” and doesn’t plan to start a competitor. (WBJ)
• Scott Allen Bolger of Virginia was convicted of threatening Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell via text message and could get up to five years. Bolger also threatened a roommate and an ex-girlfriend, who said, “nobody did anything until it was someone that was in the public eye.” (Washington Post)
• SCOTUSblog co-founder and Supreme Court litigator Tom Goldstein was found guilty of tax evasion. (AP) Flashback: We wrote about Goldstein’s legal troubles last fall. (Washingtonian)
• Novartis settled a suit by the descendants of Henrietta Lacks. (NBC4 Washington)
• The robot taxi firm Waymo is spending more on lobbying to try to get its self-driving vehicles onto DC streets. If you like how Google ruined Gmail with AI, you’ll love putting the safety of yourself, your loved ones, and everyone nearby at the mercy of a tech company’s whims. (Axios D.C.)
• Sure, okay, why not: Mick “Mankind” Foley is a fan of the Prince George’s County Police Department. (WTOP)
• The UK tabloid the Sun appears to have lifted an article about Buffalo Wild Wings from ARLnow. It later “updated” the story to include less of the Arlington outlet’s work. (ARLnow)
• Police in Montgomery County charged a 16-year-old in Rockville with making a threat against Wootton High School, where a different student is accused of shooting another earlier this month. (WUSA9)
• It doesn’t look like Alexandria will have a Republican candidate for an upcoming city council special election—GOP nominee Gerry Chandler dropped out of the race, citing the “onerous financial disclosures required.” Former Republican councilmember Frank Fannon is running as an independent against Democratic nominee Sandy Marks. (ALXnow)
• Wolf Trap summer-season tickets go on sale today. (DC News Now)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: “Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” opens at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Saturday: The Second City wraps up a stint at the Barns at Wolf Trap.
Sunday: Amber Mark plays the Fillmore Silver Spring.
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.
