Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Happy Pi Day. Cloudy this morning, then mostly sunny with a high of 59 and patchy drizzle with a low around 45 overnight. The Washington Spirit will open their regular season against Houston tonight at 8 PM. On Saturday, D.C. United will host Montreal, the Capitals will be at San Jose, the Wizards will visit Denver, and Old Glory DC will play Chicago. As my fellow petrol-heads likely know, Formula 1 returns this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix. Please enjoy Lewis Hamilton‘s salute to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” while you wait for lights out. 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:
Sensor Ghost, “The Dumb and Hateful Thumb.” I love the angular, adenoidal No Wave this DC trio lays down, and I’m looking forward to their forthcoming LP, “Irritation on Demand.” Sensor Ghost will play Haydee’s on Saturday.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Shutdown watch: Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he’d support the GOP spending bill and that his caucus had enough votes to bring it to a vote today. Funding runs out at midnight. (Washington Post) Democrats in the House are incandescent with rage. (Axios) “As bad as passing the continuing resolution would be, I believe a government shutdown is far worse,” Schumer writes. (NYT) Schumer thinks he can arrange a fix to DC’s budget. (Burgess Everett)
Should have caught “Shear Madness” instead: Vice President and former Alexandria resident JD Vance got booed at an NSO concert at the Kennedy Center last night. (NYT) Watch the booing. (Andrew Roth)
Trump v. courts: Two federal judges ordered the government to rehire the probationary workers it has fired. (Washington Post) “‘You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross examination would reveal the truth,’ [US District Judge William Alsup] said to a DOJ attorney during a hearing Thursday. ‘I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth. … I’m tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth.’” (Politico)
Trump v. stock market: The S&P 500 is now in correction territory after another nasty day in the stock market. (NYT) Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said he’s “not concerned about a little bit of volatility.” (Politico)
The daily DOGE: The US Postal Service said it had reached an agreement with Elon Musk‘s DOGE project. (NYT) DOGE continues to hide its mistakes. (NYT) The inside story of DOGE. (Wired) Workers at HHS have until 5 PM today to decide whether they’ll take a buyout. (Mother Jones)
• Dr. Oz will face confirmation today as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He “may have significantly underpaid his Medicare and Social Security taxes from 2021 to 2023.” (Politico)
• President Trump will visit the Department of Justice today, a “highly unusual” move. (Politico)
• The administration has identified another green-card holder it wants to deport. (The Atlantic)
One open house to check out this weekend, by Kate Corliss
Photograph by Jonathan Hsu/Lucent Real Estate Media.
This charmer of a Hyattsville bungalow has five bedrooms, new kitchen appliances, a new deck, and a fenced-in yard. It’s listed at $575,000, and you can view it Saturday from 1 PM–4 PM. You can see our other picks for open houses, including a stunning Dupont Circle townhouse, here.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Pizza, pie: It’s a roundup of Pi Day specials!
• Patience, quietly commissioned reports, and occasionally a person of interest known as “the Egyptian”: The life of a PI in the DC area.
• If DC’s brutalist federal buildings do come on the market, an exhibit at the National Building Museum floats some ideas about how they could be reused.
• 8 ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Local news links:
• RIP John Feinstein, the DC sportswriting great who died yesterday at 69. (Washington Post) A collection of some of his best sportswriting for the Post. (Washington Post) “He’d see the other person’s point, even when he was convinced he was right”: An appreciation. (Washington Post) Feinstein’s 1986 classic “A Season on the Brink” was a “massive best-seller that launched a prodigious book-writing career, authoring more than 40 of them while still producing a constant stream of compelling stories for the Post.” (Sports Illustrated)
• Johns Hopkins University will cut 2,000 jobs to cope with $800 million in federal grant cuts. (Washington Post) More federal contractors have been forced to lay off employees because of Trump and Musk’s cuts. (WBJ) Unemployment filings are up 15 percent in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. (WTOP)
• Hundreds of DC school kids visited Capitol Hill yesterday to try to urge senators to fix the budget hole the GOP created in DC with its continuing resolution. (WTOP) Metro could see layoffs and a $200 million funding cut if Congress adopts the provision. (NBC4 Washington)
• Our area’s population grew 1.4 percent last year, a faster rate than the nation as a whole. (Axios D.C.)
• Landscaper Tom Clime crafts pink metal hearts as a message of love. (Washington Post)
• The Washington National Cathedral gift shop may soon be home to the world’s largest Lego cathedral. (WTOP)
• A new Revolutionary War experience at Mount Vernon. (Alexandria Living)
• Alexandria public schools’ Sharon Phox is the 2026 Virginia Regional Teacher of the Year for Northern Virginia. (WUSA9)
• Who is the friendly Uber driver who likes to hand out CDs? (PoPville)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The Pink Tie Party jumpstarts the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Saturday: Get into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit at the Ireland at the Wharf fest.
Sunday: Celebrate the Persian New Year with your kids at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.
See lots more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
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.