Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. The government runs out of funding in one week. Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday at 2 AM. Yet more wind and a high around 53 today. A low around 40 overnight. The Capitals host Detroit this evening and Seattle on Sunday. The Wizards are at Toronto this evening. D.C. United host Kansas City tomorrow, and Old Glory DC will play Anthem Rugby Carolina (after a watch party for the Scotland-Wales Six Nations match that will feature bagpipes, Welsh cakes, and giveaways). You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address at the bottom of this post.
I can’t stop listening to:
The Avengers, “The American in Me.” “It’s the American in me that makes me watch the blood,” Penelope Houston sang on this San Francisco punk band’s signature song, from their second EP in 1979. The Avengers had already broken up by the time that record appeared, but the band had achieved the distinction of having opened the Sex Pistols’ last concert, a set from which this clip is drawn. The reunited Avengers play Comet Ping Pong Sunday with Lupo Citta and the Owners.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
In the DOGE house: President Trump told cabinet members yesterday that they, not Elon Musk, were in charge of their agencies. (Politico) Musk carried a similar message to GOP lawmakers. (AP) Legislators are increasingly freaked out by headlines like this one. (Consumer Reports) One of the properties GSA listed in its attempt to dispose of outdated properties was a secret CIA facility. (Wired) Social Security Administration employees were instructed not to read “general news” websites. (Wired) “People are definitely … sleeping there”: Inside DOGE’s DC HQ. (Politico) Remember the agency that wouldn’t let in very young men with backpacks? The young men returned with US Marshals. (NYT) A judge said Trump couldn’t shut it down. (WUSA9)
• Trump “targeted another elite law firm that has represented clients he considers his political enemies.” The firm is Perkins Coie. (Washington Post)
• The President paused some tariffs on Mexico and Canada. He’s “having enormous fun turning tariffs on and off like tap water. But others are developing a case of Trump-induced whiplash, not least investors.” (NYT) Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the province will impose 25 percent surcharge on electricity sold to the US. “You touch the stove once, you get burned, you don’t touch that stove again,” Ford said. (CBC)
• A judge blocked Trump’s firing of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox. (Washington Post)
• Hampton Dellinger said he’d stop fighting his own termination. (NBC News)
• Trump is probably not going to try to end Daylight Saving Time. (Axios)
One real estate mystery: Who bought the most expensive mansion in DC?
Nice place! Image via Google Maps.
One of the most expensive residential sales in DC history closed this week—$23 million for a house near the Naval Observatory—but think again if you’re hoping to ogle the photos. The listing was off-market, meaning it wasn’t featured in the MLS, or multiple listing service, and the property on Google Street View has already been blurred out. According to the Washington Business Journal, the sale was all cash, and the buyer was Redbrick Corner, an LLC that was registered in late January in Delaware.
The listing agent, Daniel Heider, and the buyer’s agent, Michael Rankin, both of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, have been involved in some of the biggest transactions during the so-called Trump bump, the surge in activity in the luxury market following Trump’s election, and gossip and speculation are sure to follow about who might be behind Redbrick Corner. Another off-market listing in the neighborhood, Woodland Normanstone, sold for $17.5 million in January, also to an LLC registered in Delaware. The neighborhood already is a bit of a MAGA stronghold, home to the likes of PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s former Treasury secretary. Perhaps they’ve expanded their numbers? —Eric Wills
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The new restaurant Sagrada on 14th Street wants to take you on a psychedelic journey by way of an eight-course meal—no magic mushrooms necessary,
• Gravitas and Michele’s chef Matt Baker experienced a social media blowup recently. He’s also recently dealt with tax liens and a lawsuit.
• A Bloomingdale townhouse, an Arlington Craftsman—these are the best open houses this weekend.
• It’s Women’s History Month. Here are some ideas for celebrating it.
• It’s not just “Hamilton”: A list of canceled events at the Kennedy Center.
• “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo will headline WorldPride 2025 with a performance here this May.
Local news links:
Road Rules: US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy wrote DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, and WMATA honcho Randy Clarke about his safety concerns regarding transportation in DC. (WUSA9) Among Duffy’s issues: “murals or other forms of artwork within the traveled way” in the District, Amtrak’s “coordination to include other Federal security agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security,” and “crime and fare evasion” on Metro.
• Ed Martin, the interim US Attorney for DC, demanded an end to “all DEI” at Georgetown University, or threatened not to hire any graduates of the university’s law school. (Washington Post) In his reply, Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor reminded Martin that the US has a rather famous constitutional amendment that tends to prohibit the government from telling a university what it can or can’t teach. (NBC News) A group of US senators has asked DC’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel to look into Martin’s conduct. (Ryan J. Reilly)
• Bowser’s administration “recently removed a webpage that championed D.C. as a ‘sanctuary city.'” (Axios D.C.)
• Adnan Syed will not return to prison. (Washington Post)
• George Mason’s baseball team scored 23 runs in one inning, breaking an NCAA record. (Sports Illustrated)
• GSA wrongly sought to terminate a lease in Annandale. “The agency has since righted the wrong. Sort of.” (WBJ)
• People in Warrenton complain that the town smells like gas. (WUSA9)
• “That’s what they’re doing, now,” ICE agents detained a Manassas man who notes he even voted for Trump. (NBC4 Washington)
• The National Arboretum’s eagles are always at it, apparently. (Washington Post)
• Northern Virginians banded together to save a beaver. (WUSA9)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: Great Big Game Show arrives in Georgetown.
Saturday: Alton Brown‘s farewell tour stops at National Theatre.
Sunday: Last day of the Polish Film Festival.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
The finish line is in sight. Turn on the jets!
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.