Stories credited to Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by., by publication date. ChamberLight collects articles that mention the officials it tracks, so this shows its own coverage of this source, not how much the source publishes.

Stories from Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.
Shaded: ChamberLight collected no stories, or almost none, from any outlet (a gap in its collection, not in the outlet’s publishing)

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Month	Stories	All outlets
January 2026	1	40
February 2026	0	180
March 2026	1	1,094
April 2026	3	4,537
May 2026	0	none collected
June 2026	0	none collected
July 2026	0	none collected
August 2026	0	1 (collection gap)
September 2026	0	598

Who they cover

Party of the officials these stories are mainly about, across all 10 officials named. A story counts once for each official it is mainly about, so the split is over 12 story–official pairs, from 5 stories.

Republican67% · 8 pairs
Democrat17% · 2 pairs
Party not recorded17% · 2 pairs

Most covered

Stories mainly about each official, and their share of the source’s 5 stories.

Article tone

ChamberLight’s article analysis assigns each story a tone toward the official it covers. It describes the coverage of that official, not Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.’s stance, and reader votes do not change it. 5 stories.

Good Look: 1 (20%)
Mixed: 2 (40%)
Informational: 1 (20%)
Bad Look: 1 (20%)

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Articles served from washingtonian.com

Big Day for Trump’s Arch, Sebastian Gorka Is Back, and Someone Left a Golden Toilet in Virginia

Good morning. Another hot one: sunny with a high around 95 today. Isolated showers possible after 11 AM, with a low near 68. The Nationals are at Pittsburgh again today. 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: Swansea Sound, “Not My Order.” Swansea Sound includes Hue Williams of the Pooh Sticks and Amelia Fletcher from Heavenly. This tune connects internet shopping to the profound loneliness of modern existence, and I’ll have to buy lots of stuff on Amazon to feel better now that I’ve heard it. Swansea Sound and Heavenly play Black Cat tonight alongside Lightheaded. 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: Fed: White House plans to highlight tax refunds under President Trump went awry when Trump threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell in an interview with Maria Bartiromo that aired Wednesday. (Politico) In response, US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina reiterated his position that until Trump ends the criminal investigation of Powell that he dialed up—the President told Bartiromo that *he* didn’t plan to drop the probe, which is supposedly being conducted independently by the DC US Attorney’s office—he wouldn’t vote to confirm Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick to succeed Powell when his term ends next month. (NBC News) Cue the anonymous sources: “Some of Tillis’ fellow Republicans privately acknowledged Wednesday they don’t understand the White House’s current strategy.” (Politico) And then, of course, there’s the pope thing: Tillis also advised Trump to apologize for his attacks on Pope Leo XIV. Instead, the administration “abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to shelter and care for migrant children” that had been in place for more than six decades. (Miami Herald) Trump seems to be searching for the limits of his religious supporters’ patience: In addition to picking a fight with the pope, he used the f-word in a post on Easter Sunday and posted, then deleted, a meme that depicted himself as Jesus. (His explanation that he thought it made him look like a doctor doesn’t seem to have settled any nerves.) “These things add up,” Erick Erickson said. (Washington Post) There’s a rather amazing piece of connective tissue between Trump’s campaigns against Leo and Powell: Federal housing official Bill Pulte, who reportedly encouraged the Powell investigation, brought the Jesus meme to Trump’s attention. (Axios) Meanwhile, life keeps getting more expensive for many Americans. Trump seems to have abandoned his campaign pledge to help with the cost of child care. (Washington Post) The price of gas has shot up because of the war he started with Iran, and the White House plans to ask oil-company CEOs today to drill more, which is not exactly a near-term solution. (Politico) The wealthy are doing great: Major indices had record days yesterday on hopes that Trump’s Iran adventure may end soon. (WSJ) And a new report says dozens of US corporations “paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the U.S.” (ITEP) Because of Trump’s antics, a “growing number of White House allies are resigned to losing the House and fear that the Senate is also in play.” (Politico) Speaking of Congress: Republicans in the Senate blocked a resolution that aimed to reign in Trump on Iran. (Reuters) Six House Republicans joined Democrats to advance a bill that would restore Temporary Protected Status to Haitian immigrants. (NBC News) The Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded. (NYT) Administration perambulation: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, her husband, Shawn DeRemer, and her father “routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.” (NYT) Sebastian Gorka—remember him?—wants to run the National Counterterrorism Center. (Washington Post) John Eastman, the legal engine behind Trump’s attempts to overturn the election he lost to Joe Biden, got disbarred. (NYT) The Commission of Fine Arts will pretend to consider Trump’s planned triumphal arch today. (NYT) Rodney Mims Cook Jr., one of many allies Trump has on the commission, says DC needs even more arches. (Washington Post) Emails acquired via FOIA detail the, uh, extremely thorough bureaucratic processes involved in the Space Force’s pursuit of a theme song. (404 Media) A new book says Health Secretary RFK Jr. once cut off a raccoon’s dinger “for further study.” (TMZ) Trump thinks soda cures cancer. (The Hill) Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen: Photo by Ike Allen. What started as a bakery in Anacostia became an African-inflected soul food takeout spot with popular fried whiting sandwiches. Now, Open Crumb is a mostly Ghanaian counter-serve restaurant just off H Street Northeast. The place still feels a little temporary, but chef Peter Opare’s cooking feels grounded and reliable. I liked the hearty vegetarian take on the classic West African egusi stew, with tender leaves of spinach and ground melon seed. Suya-spiced grilled beef atop jollof rice is brightened by an herb-y corn salad. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • These unusual bagels will drive purists crazy. • 323 Dhaba Express, a restaurant serving hearty Punjabi vegetarian fare, is spicing up Sterling. • Architect Deborah Buelow talks about turning an 8,200-square foot Del Ray house into an energy-efficient “passive house.” • Jazz in the Garden will return next month. Here’s how you can get tickets. • This extravagant November wedding featured two ballet performances. Local news links: Trouble in the data center: Three years ago, almost 70 percent of Virginians polled said they would be comfortable with a data center being built in their area. Now only 35 percent say the same. (Washington Post) Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger is seeking changes that would weaken bills “designed to shift more costs onto data centers.” (Virginia Mercury) • Hair-touching Metro creep and Trump-pardoned January 6 rioter Bryan Betancur must remain in custody while his case proceeds, a judge ruled. (NBC4 Washington) • Maryland Governor Wes Moore said he will sign a bill that forbids dynamic pricing in grocery stores. (DC News Now) • Prosecutors “have added terrorism and weapons-of-mass-destruction charges” to the case against accused January 6 pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr. (Washington Post) • A DC cop didn’t show up for a hearing about an 18-year-old arrested for carrying a pistol illegally, so the charge got dropped. A week later, police say, the teen shot and killed someone. (WCP) • The Appellate Court of Maryland ruled in favor of the Washington Post in a suit the paper filed against Ocean City’s police department. The court ruled that a pro-transparency law the state passed in 2021 requires police departments to release the names of officers in use-of-force reports. (Washington Post) • A 12-year-old boy died yesterday, the second child killed in a shooting Tuesday outside a convenience store in the District. (NBC4 Washington) • Three people on scooters struck a pedestrian who confronted them about smoking weed on the Washington Monument’s grounds, US Park Police cops say. (ABC7) • The Washington Capitals “might be more ready to move on” than Alex Ovechkin is. (WTOP) • The Washington Commanders unveiled a new alternate uniform that includes the image of a spear, a reference to the team’s former name. (Washington Post) • Former NPR President Kevin Klose died Wednesday. He was 85. (NPR) • The FAA is looking into audio that shows two pilots near DC “making dog and cat noises” on their radios. (WTOP) • Someone placed a “golden crapper” on the grounds of Culpeper County, Virginia’s administration building. The local sheriff’s department joked that the culprit should “come in here and beg for mercy.” (WUSA9) Thursday’s event picks: • It’s the first day of Filmfest DC. • See “Freaky Friday”—on a Thursday. • David Michael Wyatt plays the Howard Theatre. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter. The post Big Day for Trump’s Arch, Sebastian Gorka Is Back, and Someone Left a Golden Toilet in Virginia first appeared on Washingtonian.

Apr 16, 202610 votes

Big Day for Trump’s Arch, Sebastian Gorka Is Back, and Someone Left a Golden Toilet in Virginia

Apr 16, 20269 votes

Big Day for Trump’s Arch, Sebastian Gorka Is Back, and Someone Left a Golden Toilet in Virginia

Apr 16, 20267 votes

US Vice President Offers Theological Advice to Pope, King Charles Will Visit DC and Virginia, and Maryland May Soon Have a State Shark

Good morning. It’s tax day. Mostly sunny today with a high around 93 (!). Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 71. D.C. United will host One Knoxville SC in a U.S. Open Cup match today. The Nationals are still in Pittsburgh. 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: Dead Meadow, “Voyager to Voyager.” The onetime DC band’s adventures in unreasonably heavy psychedelia continued with last year’s album of the same name. Prepare to explore the dustiest reaches of your mind when Dead Meadow plays Pearl Street Warehouse tonight with Cory Shane and Caustic Casanova. 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: War news: The US and Iran are amenable to extending their ceasefire for another two weeks, mediators said early Wednesday. (AP) President Trump described the war he started with Iran as “close to over” in an interview that will air later today, according to a clip released last night. (Fox News) The US said it had blockaded Iran’s ports. Trump also claimed the US had accomplished regime change in Iran (it has not) and said talks with Iran were likely to restart after they collapsed last weekend. He also said the ceasefire was unlikely to be extended, so who knows about that one. (Reuters) Israeli and Lebanese officials met in DC Tuesday for talks to end the conflict there. (NYT) Israel’s war on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah “has so far killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and wounded thousands more.” (AP) Is the pope Catholic? Vice President JD Vance warned Pope Leo XIV to “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” (USA Today) Over the weekend, Trump tried to pick a fight with the pope, who has been critical of Trump’s war. Vance, a convert to Catholicism who has a book about his faith due out soon, also said he has “a lot of respect for the pope.” (NYT) House Speaker Mike Johnson said he advised Trump to delete a social media post that depicted the President as Jesus. (Politico) Trump’s war and weekend antics have left some of his base “exasperated” and “puzzled.” (Politico) Pirro hour: US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro asked a federal appeals court to throw out convictions for leaders of extremist groups convicted of seditious conspiracy after Trump’s fans attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, following his election loss to Joe Biden. (AP) Trump commuted the sentences received by leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys on his first day back in office but their appeals had continued. (Politico) Prosecutors from Pirro’s office “showed up unannounced Tuesday at the construction site for the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation,” a sign their investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell that Trump sought continues. (WSJ) The US Senate will hold a hearing next week about Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Powell when his term as chair ends next month. US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina has said he won’t allow any nomination to proceed while Pirro’s investigation of Powell continues. (NYT) Meanwhile: The Department of Justice released a report claiming the Biden administration had “egregiously weaponized a law that has historically been used to prosecute people who physically block women from entering abortion clinics.” (Washington Post) Administration perambulation: The US killed four more people in an attack on a small boat in the Pacific yesterday. (NYT) The administration may nominate Erica Schwartz to lead the CDC. The agency “has been without a permanent director for all but 29 days since Trump took office in January 2025.” (Washington Post) FIFA executives hope their prez, Gianni Infantino, will leverage his friendship with Trump to ask him to hold off on ICE enforcement during this summer’s World Cup. (The Athletic) Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the body could act quickly to confirm a new Supreme Court justice if a vacancy opens and Trump nominates someone—perhaps US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. (Politico) A lawsuit filed by a former Reuters editor says he was fired after he criticized his employer for selling data products to ICE. (404 Media) King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Great Britain will visit the White House at the end of this month. They’ll also visit Virginia. (ABC News) Trump said he would erect “a 4,500 seat arena” on the White House grounds for a UFC event planned there this summer. (Deadline) Asked about claims by Gregg Phillips, a top FEMA official, that he had teleported to a Waffle House, Trump said, “I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I’ll find out about it right now.” (CNN) How to get tickets for the White House garden tour, by Daniella Byck: Photograph via the White House‘s Flickr page. Twice a year—once in the spring, once in the fall—visitors have the opportunity to stroll through the White House gardens. The springtime tours will take place this weekend on Saturday, April 18, from 10 AM to 4:30 PM and Sunday, April 19, from 10 AM to 2:30 PM. Free timed-entry tickets are doled out first-come, first-served basis at the White House Visitor Center (1450 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) starting at 8:30 AM. Passes are limited to one per person, so make sure your whole crew comes out. The tour covers the White House Kitchen Garden, the Rose Garden—which is really more of a rose-lined patio these days—and the commemorative trees planted by past Presidents. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Linh Mai, the sassy new baby elephant at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, will finally meet the public a week from today. • The DC delegate race between Robert White and Brooke Pinto is getting personal. • Here’s what you need to know about DC Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s war on rats. • The Atlantic says the cranberry-walnut loaf at Le Diplomate is the nation’s best bread. We went down for a taste. • Shay Taylor-Allen‘s Match Day moment went viral. The Howard med-school grad tells us about her life in DC. Local news links: Abigail Spanberger news: Virginia’s governor signed a bill that ends tax exemptions for Confederate organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She already signed a bill that discontinued a Virginia license plate honoring Robert E. Lee, a traitor to the US who lost the war the South fought to try to preserve slavery. (NYT) She signed a bill adding Virginia to a group of states that have pledged to eventually “award their presidential electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner.” (NPR) Spanberger wants the launch of Virginia’s recreational marijuana market delayed by six months and asked for higher taxes and new criminal penalties, including for minors caught with weed and people who use it in public. (Marijuana Moment) She signed and amended legislation about guns, including a ban on s0-called assault weapons and magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. (Virginia Mercury) • The National Park Service removed a sign that explained the racist beliefs of former US Senator Francis Newlands, for whom a fountain on the border between DC and Maryland is named. (NBC4 Washington) • A tip based on facial recognition software led to an Oklahoma woman being jailed for six months on charges of bank fraud in Maryland—a state she had never visited. (Washington Post) • DC’s Board of Zoning Adjustment hasn’t been able to achieve a quorum for more than a month, stalling dozens of projects. (WCP) • A woman died and a man is hospitalized after house fire in Bethesda this morning. (WTOP) • DC cops arrested and charged someone they say stabbed another person on the D20 bus. (WUSA9) • Police in Harford County, Maryland, charged a DC police officer with “with sexual solicitation of a minor and child pornography.” The accused officer, Matthew Mahl, was previously the head of the DC police union. The department revoked his police powers and placed him on leave. (NBC4 Washington) • Police in Laurel are looking for people who used pickaxes to burgle four restaurants. (DC News Now) • Leesburg will use funds raised in part from data centers to buy a farm once owned by the Cook family. The vice mayor says the town overpaid. (WUSA9) • Bees swarmed on L Street. (PoPville) • Maryland may soon have a state shark. (NBC4 Washington) Wednesday’s event picks: • Hayley Williams plays a sold-out show at the Fillmore Silver Spring. • Tonight’s NMWA Nights event will feature fashion made from upcycled materials. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter. The post US Vice President Offers Theological Advice to Pope, King Charles Will Visit DC and Virginia, and Maryland May Soon Have a State Shark first appeared on Washingtonian.

Apr 15, 20269 votes

US Vice President Offers Theological Advice to Pope, King Charles Will Visit DC and Virginia, and Maryland May Soon Have a State Shark

Apr 15, 202620 votes

US Vice President Offers Theological Advice to Pope, King Charles Will Visit DC and Virginia, and Maryland May Soon Have a State Shark

Apr 15, 202613 votes

Bare-Bottomed Burglar Behind Bars? Also: Trump Explains He Was Trying to Depict Himself as a Doctor, Not as Jesus

Good morning. Sunny with a high around 89 today. A low near 70 overnight. The Philadelphia Flyers’ victory over the Carolina Hurricanes last night officially eliminated the Washington Capitals from playoffs contention, so tonight’s visit to Columbus will be the Caps’ last game of the season as well as—perhaps—Alex Ovechkin‘s final appearance with the team. The Nationals are at Pittsburgh. 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: Natalia Lafourcade, “La Bruja.” The great Mexican singer performs solo at Strathmore tonight. 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: Spam of God: President Trump yesterday deleted a post he made Sunday night. It featured an AI-generated image of Trump as a Christ-like figure in robes, with divine light behind him and an orb of light in his left hand as he heals a sick person while heavenly beings and people and eagles on earth gather to give him praise. It was a bit much even for some allies of the President, many of whom excused him last year when he posted a different AI-generated image that imagined Trump as the pope. Some of his supporters online began to bandy about the idea that Trump may be the Antichrist. (Wired) Asked why he deleted the post, Trump said, “I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross.” (NBC News) “I make people better,” he explained as he received two bags of McDonalds food being delivered to the White House as part of a staged promotion of his no-tax-on-tips policy. (NYT) Related: Trump’s recent behavior has some former allies questioning his mental health. (NYT) Meanwhile, the war: The war Trump started with Iran almost seven weeks ago festers in the Persian gulf. Saudi Arabia wants the US to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and restart peace negotiations. (WSJ) Talks about doing just that could begin today. (AP) Despite promising the war would end Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon “for the long term,” the US sought a 20-year pause in that quest during the failed negotiations led by Vice President JD Vance. Iran proposed a five-year suspension—the same terms it offered before the war. (NYT) Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host talks between Israel and Lebanon in DC today about ending the conflict there, which Trump and Israel say is exempt from the two-week ceasefire with Iran. (Axios) Over on the Hill: Trump’s antics overshadowed a monumental day at the US Capitol, where two embattled US representatives resigned. Eric Swalwell of California apologized for “mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past” and said he’d fight a “false allegation” that he sexually assaulted a former staffer. (Politico) And Tony Gonzales of Texas, who is “being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for having an affair with a staff member who later set herself on fire and died,” said he would “file” for retirement. Both men faced likely votes to expel them from Congress. (Washington Post) Swalwell had “developed a reputation for unsavory and sometimes unwanted behavior toward women” and was the subject of a whisper network among politics types. (Politico) Administration perambulation: The administration agreed that the Pride flag could fly above New York’s Stonewall National Monument to settle a lawsuit brought by nonprofits who argued that its policy that allows Confederate flags to fly in some places applied to the rainbow banner as well. The National Park Service quietly removed Pride flags from the monument in February. (NYT) A federal judge in Miami tossed Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal, which reported on a page in a “birthday book” for the since deceased, disgraced financier Jefferey Epstein in which Trump—who denies doing so—drew an image of a naked woman with his signature “below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.” (WSJ) A Minnesota county attorney said he’s investigating the warrantless January arrest by ICE of US citizen ChongLy “Scott” Thao, who was dragged out into the snow in his underwear. (AP) Troy Edgar, a former top aide to Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security, will return to the agency, which is now led by Markwayne Mullin. (Politico) Prices for fertilizer and helium have skyrocketed because of the war with Iran, putting pressure on farmers and manufacturers. (Politico) US Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees NASA, opposes the administration’s proposed cuts to the agency. (SpaceNews) A report from the Partnership for Public Service estimates that Trump’s cuts to the federal government have “cost the U.S. economy more than $165.6 billion” so far. (Government Executive) Trump may appoint ophthalmologist and frequent Fox News guest Houman Hemmati as the US’s chief vaccine regulator. (Washington Post) US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina does not want to talk about the photo of himself holding a bubble wand. (TMZ/X) The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Jessica Sidman: Photo by Jessica Sidman. Amparo Fondita is an excellent destination for modern Mexican food in Dupont Circle. But recently, chef Christian Irabién started a burrito pop-up for weekday lunch called El Gabacho. These aren’t overstuffed Chipotle-style burritos; they’re rather long and relatively skinny—although still very filling. Housemade tortillas are stuffed with proteins like tomatillo-sewed pork shoulder or guajillo-braised flank steak, but I was quite smitten with the chile relleno burrito ($13), which was absolutely oozing with chihuahua cheese. (The classic chile relleno on the dinner menu is also one of the best in town.) While you can eat your burrito at the restaurant, you still have to order online, and the lunch operation seems mostly geared toward takeout and delivery. Stop by before the pop-up, which is closed on Mondays, ends on August 14. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Take a photographic voyage down Maryland’s “Highway to Heaven”—a stretch of road that’s a striking microcosm of faiths from around the world. • Chef Masaaki “Uchi” Uchino‘s sushi counter Kiyomi—home to a $40 omakase lunch deal—will open a standalone space in DC today. • Albi and La’ Shukran chef Michael Rafidi will open Bizzeria, a Levantine-inspired pizzeria, in Georgetown this fall. • Felix Eller and Aram Matagi won a “Heated Rivalry” lookalike contest in DC earlier this month. They’re now an item. • Congress is kind of freaking out now that TMZ has opened a DC bureau. • A report from Capital One Arena during what may have been Ovechkin’s last home game. Local news links: Bare-bottomed burglar behind bars? Police in Fairfax County say 21-year-old Sedrick Walker is the person who has burglarized houses in Centreville while nude. (FFX Now) Neighbors cheered as Walker was arrested. (WTOP) In addition to charges of burglary, Walker faces charges of indecent exposure. (NBC4 Washington) • Quadruple amputee and professional cornhole player Dayton Webber was indicted in Charles County on murder charges for the March killing of a passenger in his Tesla. Webber says he shot Bradrick Wells in self defense. (WTOP) • Maryland Governor Wes Mooore‘s hopes to gerrymander the state ahead of this year’s midterms appear to have evaporated. (AP) • Former Mike Pence aide turned Trump critic Olivia Troye will run for Congress in Virginia as a Democrat if voters in the commonwealth approve a new Congressional map. (Washington Post) • Arlington’s Azzi Fudd was selected by the Dallas Wings in yesterday’s WNBA draft. (ARLnow) • DC spent almost $900,000 to design firetrucks that the DC Council has voted against buying. (NBC4 Washington) • Officials at Joint Base Andrews say they’re investigating the leak of 22,000 gallons of jet fuel into Piscataway Creek this spring. (Maryland Matters) • Police in Arlington are searching for a man linked to an attempted sausage theft. (ARLnow) Tuesday’s event picks: • It’s the 161st anniversary of Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination. You can tour the house where he died this evening and reflect on the event. • The historian John Garrison Marks discusses George Washington’s “complex relationship with slavery” at a Tudor House lecture. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter. The post Bare-Bottomed Burglar Behind Bars? Also: Trump Explains He Was Trying to Depict Himself as a Doctor, Not as Jesus first appeared on Washingtonian.

Apr 14, 202610 votes

Bare-Bottomed Burglar Behind Bars? Also: Trump Explains He Was Trying to Depict Himself as a Doctor, Not as Jesus

Apr 14, 202620 votes

Bare-Bottomed Burglar Behind Bars? Also: Trump Explains He Was Trying to Depict Himself as a Doctor, Not as Jesus

Apr 14, 202611 votes

Trump Takes a DC Bike Lane, Chickens Out of Bombing Iranian Power Plants, Installs Statue of Columbus

Good morning. March once again reminds us it’s in charge today: Rainy and windy this morning, with a high around 61 that will drop to around 40 later in the day. Gusty overnight, with a low near 33. In better news, the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin have reached the peduncle elongation stage. 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: Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi.” Well, good luck getting this one out of your head today. Lady Gaga plays the first of two shows at Capital One Arena tonight. 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: War news: President Trump backed off a threat to bomb Iran’s power plants, saying his administration had had “productive” talks with Tehran. (WSJ) Iran on Monday threatened to strike energy facilities throughout the Middle East if Trump carried through with his threat, which he conditioned on Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz. It also said it would mine the Persian Gulf if US and Israeli forces attempted any ground warfare. (AP) The Pentagon said Friday it would send thousands of Marines to the region. (WSJ) Iran on Friday struck the US-UK base Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, with ICBMs that could reach Europe. (WSJ) Stock futures fell and oil prices rose due to Trump’s threats. (CNBC) The average price of a gallon of gas in the US rose to $3.956. (AAA) The war is now in its fourth week. Despite heavy bombardment from the US and Israel, Iran’s regime has leveraged its dominion over the strait to remain in power. (Washington Post) With regard to the strait, Trump’s “erratic strategy has fueled criticism that he is grasping for answers after going to war without a clear exit plan.” (AP) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued yesterday that Americans are “beginning to understand” that higher gas prices for the next couple of months are a reasonable price to pay for Trump’s war. (New York Post) ICE to see you: ICE personnel will appear in US airports today, purportedly to help with TSA operations as the Department of Homeland Security remains shut down. (NYT) Trump ordered the move to put pressure on Democrats, who want reforms to ICE before they’ll fund the department. His announcement, made via his social media site, “caught officials at ICE off guard and they have been scrambling to come up with a plan to enforce it.” (CBS News) Trump also ordered Republicans not to make a deal with Democrats. (Punchbowl News) Nonetheless, negotiations continued last week, and lawmakers face a potential bad look if they leave town this Friday for the Passover and Easter recess without making a deal on DHS. (Politico) US Senator Markwayne Mullin‘s nomination to lead DHS proceeded yesterday via a Senate vote. (Axios) Related: When he ran DHS alongside now-fired Trump loyalist Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski “used his perch to build an expansive portfolio in which he had wide influence over personnel, contracts and the department’s operations on the ground.” (NYT) Mueller dies: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller died Friday. He was 81. (AP) Trump posted a typically classy reaction: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” (NYT) Former Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff remembers Mueller, who he’d interviewed extensively. (Doomsday Scenario) Administration perambulation: Trump installed a statue of Christopher Columbus outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Washington Post) He offered administration jobs to a Colorado Republican candidate and her husband on the condition that they drop out of the race and support US Representative Jeff Hurd, whose reelection Trump previously opposed. (CNN) The US Supreme Court will take up mail-in voting, a particular obsession of Trump’s, today. (NBC News) Related: Chad Bianco, a GOP candidate for governor in California and the sheriff of Riverside County, seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from a special election last fall for what he characterized as a “fact-finding mission.” (AP) Some of the names of police officers who helped defend the US Capitol from a riot by Trump’s fans on January 6, 2021, are missing from a plaque GOP leadership grudgingly installed in the complex. (Washington Post) A federal judge in DC ruled that the Pentagon’s new rules for press coverage are illegal. DOD plans to appeal. (AP) A survey shows that under Trump, federal employees have become “disengaged, demoralized and less effective at serving the public.” (Partnership for Public Service) Kennedy Center board member Paolo Zampolli told ICE his ex-girlfriend, with whom he was locked in a custody battle, was in the US illegally. She was deported. (NYT) Remember North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson? He admitted that it was, indeed, him who posted on porn message boards. (CNN) The administration sued Harvard Friday, claiming the university hadn’t adequately addressed antisemitism on campus. (Politico) Daniel Flickinger, one of DOJ’s lawyers on the case, resigned from an Alabama law firm after a weird post he made on Facebook, apparently about George Floyd, came to light. (Law Dork) FEMA official Gregg Phillips claimed he can teleport, a skill he used to visit a Waffle House. (Mirror) The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert: Photograph by Tim Robison. The interior of Chai Pani, the hyper-color Indian hotspot at Union Market, is about as maximalist as it gets. And so is its rendition of bhel puri, the ubiquitous puffed-rice-based chaat (here, they call it “disco bhel”). Crunch comes in many forms—corn flakes, bits of fried bread, chickpea noodles and crisps, and peanuts—and everything is tossed with vibrant tamarind and minty green chutney. It’s a riot of flavor, and yet so cohesive it almost eats like a palate cleanser. (1325 Fifth St, NE.) Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Friday night’s opening of Polymarket’s bar the Situation Room didn’t exactly go according to plan: power and internet issues meant there wasn’t a lot of situation monitoring to be done. • The guitarist Island Styles, who was raised in this area, told us about his new Oscar. • Megan Wilkerson, DC’s “Bug Lady,” talks about making entomology fun. • Embrace the season and take a cherry blossom tour. Local news links: The street hereafter: The administration ordered the removal of a protected bike lane on 15th Street, Northwest, near the National Mall, enraging local cyclists. Work will begin today. (The 51st) Since the lanes were installed in 2021, they dramatically reduced crashes for all users and “bicycle injury crashes decreased by 91 percent.” (Washington Post) Cyclists protested over the weekend. (DC News Now) The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has filed a lawsuit. There’s another rally planned at noon today. (WABA) DC doesn’t have jurisdiction over that stretch of road. Mayor Muriel Bowser said their removal would “place more pressure on already crowded sidewalks and roadways.” • Police in Prince George’s County found and disabled “five suspicious devices resembling pipe bombs” in Fort Washington Park. (Fox 5) • Police in Fairfax say Rodney Johnson led them on a chase, then assaulted officers with bear spray. (WTOP) • Schools in DC and Prince George’s named for Cesar Chavez may change their names. (WTOP) • Arlington’s water may taste weird this week. (ARLnow) • Alex Ovechkin scored his 1,000th career goal yesterday. (Fox 5) The post Trump Takes a DC Bike Lane, Chickens Out of Bombing Iranian Power Plants, Installs Statue of Columbus first appeared on Washingtonian.

Mar 23, 202610 votes

Trump Takes a DC Bike Lane, Chickens Out of Bombing Iranian Power Plants, Installs Statue of Columbus

Mar 23, 202630 votes

We Watched “Queer Eye” With Sarah McBride

On Thursday evening, an exhausted Sarah McBride sank into a pale yellow armchair in her Congressional office. It had been a long week, and she still had to drive two hours home to Delaware—but first, she’d agreed to watch the new Queer Eye, the tenth and final season of the hit Netflix makeover show, which is set in DC. On a wall-mounted TV—which typically shows a live feed of the House floor—we scrolled through the episodes and landed on one about a local tour guide. “I love to give tours,” McBride told me as two of her staff members laughed. In unison, they all intoned the phrase “tour guide McBride.” I wanted to watch with McBride because A) she seemed game to answer some questions about which members of Congress need makeovers, and B) the show’s premise resonates with her political style. In early seasons, the Fab Five—the show’s crew of five charismatic gay men—would trundle around red states extending extraordinary kindness to folks who’d not had a lot of experience with people like them, basically propagandizing their own humanity while gently bettering participants’ lives. The show caught flack for it. Some believed it wasn’t moral or strategic to engage with anyone MAGA-adjacent. McBride disagrees. A freshman Democrat from Delaware—and the first out-trans member of Congress—she’s long been a proponent of “a politics of grace,” of meeting differences with kindness and curiosity and giving people space to grow. We didn’t discuss it, but that day McBride had quietly scored a victory: an enormous spending package had just passed the House stripped of dozens of anti-trans provisions, including a ban on federal funding for gender affirming care and threats to punish schools for supporting trans students. Alongside some colleagues, she’d successfully lobbied against those riders, whipping votes from various members who think quite differently than she does—including Republicans with whom she’d arduously built relationships over the past year. As we watched Queer Eye, I learned that the Congresswoman snorts when she laughs, does not prefer tomatoes on her sandwiches, and loves reality TV. Afterwards, we chatted for a while. Our conversation, edited and condensed, is below. Are you a big watcher of Queer Eye? I grew up on the original Queer Eye. It was some of the first mainstream queer representation that I remember seeing on TV, so I love it. And I really like the reboot. The original one was like gay representation that happens to be a self-help reality show, whereas this one actually feels like a self-help reality show that happens to have gay folks. I think that’s an encapsulation of the evolution of the country on gay rights over the last 20 years. Sometimes, the Fab Five give makeovers to people who aren’t so comfortable with queer people. How do you think about the politics of that? I’ve always appreciated that approach to changemaking. A lot of times right now, we view being in conversation with people who aren’t where we want them to be as some form of selling out. But what’s great is that the cast has these big personalities. They’re unapologetically themselves. To be unapologetically themselves and still be in conversation with people who maybe think or vote very differently than they do, or live and love very differently than they do, I think is such a powerful reflection of the fact that you don’t have to dim your light to still be in relationship with other people. Being proximate to folks while still bringing your whole self is quite the opposite of selling out. Do you have a favorite member of the Fab Five? Oh, JVN. He is a genuinely nice person. I’ve met him twice. Behind the scenes, he’s exactly what he’s like on the show. Usually celebrities are nice but they don’t bring the same energy. He brings the energy. And there’s a humor and a joy to him that I wish all of us allowed ourselves to tap a little bit more in ourselves. If you got a Queer Eye makeover, what would be the most urgent areas to address? I would need more clothing. I have a lot of—what was the word Tan used for stuff in your closet that you need to throw out? I’m really guilty of buying stuff online and then not returning it when I don’t like it. And I think they would push me to be braver in what I wear, too: more patterns, more colors. Also, I would probably need some help organizing. My condo in Delaware is, like, fine, but it’s not the most well-organized. I could use some help with clutter in my bedroom and in my closets. My closets are very cluttered, which feels right and apt. [“They’re scary,” one of McBride’s staffers stage whispered. “You could, like, lose your life in the closets.” McBride called this a “gross exaggeration” with mock offense.] Tan France just told the Washington Post that during his time in DC, he found the corporate wear to be “very 2010.” Do you agree? Yeah, I think that’s really right. I definitely think DC is perpetually 10 years in the past. [She gestures frantically at her staff.] Not you guys, not you guys. How would the Fab Five fix Congressional offices? Definitely some of the offices could use a little zhuzh up. Some color. Before, it was just all black leather in here. That’s how most offices are: dark, austere, militaristic furniture. But they have a warehouse of furniture you can bring into your office. It’s limited—they don’t have the most diverse set of options—but it’s definitely better than the default, which is depressing. If you could nominate one colleague in Congress for a Queer Eye makeover, who would you pick? Mike Johnson, solely so I could watch an episode of Mike Johnson squirming around five gay men. One criticism of Queer Eye is that LGBTQ people shouldn’t have to be the ones bringing skeptics into the fold. How do you think about that? I mean, yeah, sure. But the world is the world, and if we aren’t going to be the ones that do it, then who will? We can’t just sit around and hope other people will do things. That doesn’t mean every single LGBTQ person has to bear the full weight of education, the full responsibility of being visible. But I think that’s a perfect example of the discourse just destroying any capacity to do things, because on the one hand, we say you need to center the voices of the people who are most impacted. And then we say the voices of people most impacted shouldn’t have to say anything. So it’s like, okay, then you’re either going to have a completely empty sphere of silence—or if not silence, it leaves the public discourse to the opposition. And I think that’s actually what’s happened in the last couple of years: We sort of discoursed our way into ceding ground in the public square to those on the right. That’s in part, I think, because we self-policed our voices into silence. There’s some discontent about the Fab Five lacking a trans member. Do you share that? I’m always happy to see more trans representation, but I’m fine with what they have. No particular show or piece of art is going to be able to encapsulate all diversity in it. If Karamo did a group therapy session with the Democratic caucus, what do you think might come up? Ha! Our need to not overthink, our need to find our confidence. And I think across this place, there are some people who need to explore what motivates them for attention. What about in the Republican caucus? I mean, that is the single largest group of repressed individuals that I’ve ever seen in my life. There are a lot of folks there who are burying a lot of parts of who they are. And I don’t just mean their sexual orientation or gender identity—I mean just any sense of joy and wonder. There’s some folks in there that maybe have a little freak flag that they have repressed for a long time. I think the number one thing that I would recommend for my Republican colleagues is some therapy. What are you leaving Queer Eye thinking about? Let’s just fund [makeovers] for everyone. I feel like not just our politics, but our world, would be a lot better if we allowed ourselves—with humor and joy and love—to help one another become better versions of ourselves. The post We Watched “Queer Eye” With Sarah McBride first appeared on Washingtonian.

Jan 23, 202616 votes

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