Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s our list of Irish bars where you can celebrate. Scattered showers early, then cloudy with a high around 50 today, and a low of 36 overnight. The Wizards are at Portland this evening. I hope your Selection Sunday was fun and that your bracket may never be busted. Alex Ovechkin is now eight goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky‘s record. 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:
Kraftwerk, “Techno Pop.” This 1986 tune formed part of the German group’s encore at the Anthem last night. I felt so lucky to finally see them, even if the version of the future we inhabit has proved to be considerably more disappointing than the one their work prompted me to imagine when I was younger!
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
• President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport hundreds of people over the weekend, despite a federal judge’s order. (Washington Post) The administration claims it didn’t defy the order, because planes were already in the air. (Axios) An explainer of the act, which grants wartime powers to a President and was last used to target people during the Second World War. (Washington Post)
• The administration deported Rasha Alawieh, a medical school professor who holds a visa. Its reasoning is unclear. Brown University, where Alawieh works, advised students from other countries to “consider postponing or delaying personal travel outside the United States.” (NYT) International tourists have begun to cancel plans to visit the US. (Washington Post)
• Trump “essentially dismantled” the Voice of America over the weekend. (Washington Post) VOA’s broadcasts have been replaced, mostly, by music. (NYT) The US Agency for Global Media, VOA’s parent agency, “terminated a massive lease it signed last year at a prime Pennsylvania Avenue office building.” (WBJ)
• A mural that saluted Anthony Fauci was removed from NIH. (Washington Post)
• The administration has slashed the IRS workforce, but that “has not tripped up tax filing and refund issuance” so far this tax season. (CNN) Blue-state governments are “actively recruiting federal workers.” (NYT) Law school applications are way up. (WSJ)
• Chuck Schumer allowed that there is “spirited disagreement” among Democrats over his decision to back Republicans’ continuing budget resolution last week. (NYT) Schumer will speak about his new book at Sixth and I Wednesday. (Sixth and I)
• The administration largely skipped this year’s Gridiron Club Dinner, where the skits sounded particularly excruciating. (NYT) The dinner toasted the First Amendment rather than the administration. (Politico)
KenCen download: The President wants to be more involved in the Kennedy Center Honors. (NYT) Ric Grenell, whom Trump appointed as the center’s interim president, praised the center’s staff’s “diversity and inclusion” after a crowd booed Vice President Vance last week. (Washington Post) The administration has conducted the “cultural equivalent of precision air strikes against the mostly liberal residents of Washington.” (The Guardian)
• “One of the four men accused of being a sexual predator by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is suing the South Carolina congresswoman for defamation and libel.” (Post and Courier)
• The President announced he won a golf championship at his own club over the weekend.
The best thing I ate last week, by Ann Limpert
The Vienna food scene has been heating up lately, with arrivals like Lebanese hotspot Seray, the cheffy comfort food place Evelyn Rose, a branch of Call Your Mother, and—soon—Electric Bull, a steakhouse from Taco Bamba proprietor Victor Albisu. Panda Dumpling a tiny cafe/carryout, made a quieter debut in January. My favorite bite from an afternoon dumpling-fest: crisp-bottomed bao stuffed with gingery beef (the pork-filled panda dumplings were a runner-up). And I’d detour for the brown sugar milk tea, too. (155B Maple Ave., W., Vienna)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Maryland Governor Wes Moore told us about his administration’s initiatives to reach young men, a demographic that perhaps not coincidentally swung rightward during the last election.
• The owners of Chinatown’s closed Flight Wine Bar have opened a bottle shop in National Landing.
• Logan Circle’s Barrel House is now a bar.
• A colorful, flower-forward wedding at the Wharf.
Local news links:
• The Senate passed a bill that would fix the threat to DC’s budget the House GOP imposed with its continuing resolution. (Washington Post) Trump reportedly supports the bill. (Politico)
• Good thing GSA didn’t sell the FBI building: Trump wants to keep the agency on Pennsylvania Avenue. (NBC4 Washington)
• Those TikTok ads on Metro are part of “an old-school campaign to sway Washington.” (Politico)
• Hachikosela Muchimba, a USPS worker, was found guilty of stealing more than $1.6 million from checks in the mail. (NBC4 Washington)
• Pepco said a “a faulty underground cable, combined with melting snow, de-icing salt and debris, energized the sidewalk on 19th Street Northwest” in January. The freak accident electrocuted two dogs. (WUSA9)
• The Tidal Basin’s cherry blossoms are at stage 2: florets visible. (NPS) (That’s the third-best stage.)
Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
Okay, Monday. Let’s go.
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.