Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Cloudy with a high around 39 today and a small chance of light snow after 1 PM. Snow chances continue overnight, with a low temperature near 25. Six more weeks of winter awaits us, according to a groundhog who just rose to the top of my enemies list. The Wizards host the Knicks tonight. The Capitals visit Philadelphia. 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:
Borracho, “Vegas, Baby.” DC’s stoner-rock kingsplay Pie Shop tonight withRitual Arcana and andFoehammer.
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:
Shutshow: The sequel: The federal government’s sort-of shutdown is likely to end today after President Trump twisted some arms on his side of the aisle. If the maneuvering works, the whole problem will reappear in ten days as Congress struggles to resolve funding for the Department of Homeland Security. (Punchbowl News) Democrats in the House are not wild about the deal, which the Senate approved Friday. (Politico) Neither are House Republicans. (NYT) DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said yesterday that federal immigration officers in Minneapolis would wear body cameras, perhaps signaling some sort of de-escalation on the administration’s part after two fatal shootings of protesters in Minnesota by feds shocked the nation. (NYT)
The ICE storm: DHS must allow lawmakers to visit immigration facilities, a federal judge in DC ruled. (Politico) A federal judge in Minnesota found that agents in Minnesota mishandled evidence after the shooting of Alex Pretti—but didn’t agree that that mistake merited an order that the government preserve evidence. (Politico) Trump’s operation in Minnesota is now into its third month, and local business owners are struggling. (NYT) Outside the Twin Cities: Onetime Border Patrol honcho Gregory Bovino reportedly “pushed back against internal efforts to temper his aggressive approach” in Chicago last fall. (NBC News) The government’s narrative of what happened when agents shot two people in Oregon last month is, and this may surprise you, falling apart. (The Guardian)
Don’t bring your guns to town? US Attorney for DC Jeannine Pirro threatened to jail anyone who brought a gun into DC. (Axios) Her statements “could deepen a growing rift between gun owners and the Trump administration.” (NYT)
It’s 2020 somewhere: Republicans “ought to nationalize” voting in the US, Trump said in a podcast released Monday, stripping some states of their constitutionally defined role in elections. (Politico) That’s a rather large step forward in Trump’s ongoing campaign to punish states for his loss to Joe Biden in 2020, an election he continues, without evidence, to insist he won. (NYT) Fulton County in Georgia, a state that narrowly went for Biden that year, will challenge the FBI’s seizure of 2020 voting records last week. (CBS News) Trump had a phone call with FBI agents after the search, which is not exactly normal. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump sent along for the search, arranged the call. (NYT) Related: A whistleblower complaint about Gabbard is locked up in a safe while intelligence officials say they’re debating how to send it to Congress, not stonewalling. (WSJ)
Arts on fire: Kennedy Center staffers and some board members were “blindsided” by Trump’s Sunday night announcement that he planned to close the arts complex for two years beginning in July. The center will continue to fund the National Symphony Orchestra during that time, but retaining musicians could be a headache, and no one seems to know what will happen with touring shows booked into the center after July. (Washington Post) Trump said he wouldn’t tear down the Kennedy Center but would be “using the structure” to overhaul the center’s exterior. He made similar promises about not tearing down the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom he intends to name for himself—and then ripped it down anyway. (NBC News) HVAC, parking, and electrical systems are also on the to-do list, which Trump insists has nothing to do with the center’s commercial prospects plummeting under his stewardship. (NOTUS)
Administration perambulation: The Justice Department demoted Ed Martin, Trump’s long-ago pick to be US Attorney in DC. He’ll no longer head DOJ’s so-called Weaponization Working Group, where Martin has “played an important role in the largely unsuccessful prosecutions of Trump’s political foes.” (Washington Post) Trump purportedly backed off a demand that Harvard pay the US $200 million to get the government off its back but then demanded a billion dollars after the Times reported on his U-turn. (NYT) The President promised his tariffs would revive US manufacturing. And yet the nation continues to shed manufacturing jobs. (WSJ) January’s jobs report is delayed because of the shutdown. (AP) Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton will testify before Congress after all. (NYT)
Where to find cozy comfort during bleak weather, by Daniella Byck:
Snowcrete piled up in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC
Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images.
We’re headed into week two of blistering cold, and I haven’t spent this much prolonged time inside my home since quarantine. As someone who likes to stay moving, I will simply eat my own hands if I don’t get out and about soon. Rather than resorting to autosarcophagy, I’m leaving the house with a mission: Find slices of hygge, the Danish concept of cozy, around town. I’ve already got a few items on my list, including fondue at Stable on H Street or Cheestique in Del Ray, plus a drink at a moody bar with a fireplace such as 600T in Shaw. It’s also a good time of year to pick up a cozy hobby; Fibre Space in Old Town and Looped in Dupont Circle both offer knitting workshops. Some other items on my homey bucket list: Getting involved in a mahjong game, and partaking in Bold Fork Books’ Cookbook Club, where participants bring a dish from the designated book each month. That should be enough to hold us over until the snowpack thaws, and then we can focus on a new seasonal pursuit: complaining about spring allergies.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Georgetown law professor David Super explains why it would be illegal for Trump to tear down the Kennedy Center.
• Why is there so much Alexandria in the new, final season of “Queer Eye”?
• New shopping options.
Local news links:
• Brendan Banfield was found guilty of murdering his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan, a stranger he lured to their Herndon-area house in a bizarre scheme prompted by his affair with the couple’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães. Prosecutors say Banfield’s easily refuted claims on the witness stand helped their case. (Washington Post)
• Andrew Wolfe is recovering ahead of expectations, his family says. The West Virginia National Guard member was shot in DC the day before Thanksgiving. Another Guard member shot during the incident, Sarah Beckstrom, has died. (WUSA9)
• Hundreds of DC Public Schools students returned to cold classrooms after the snowstorm. (Washington Post)
• DCPS employee Dandre Eric Davis was charged with distributing child sex abuse material. (Fox 5)
• Road salt from the storm will make drinking water in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties slightly saltier. (WTOP)
• Add free range dog poop to the list of problems engendered by the snowcrete plaguing the area. (PoPville)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• “The World to Come” opens at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
• “Malcolm & Marie” shows at the MLK Library.
• Lily Meyer discusses her new book, “The End of Romance,” with Hillary Kelly at Politics & Prose.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Join the conversation!
Senior editor
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.