Good morning. Breezy today, but less gusty than yesterday, and sunny with a high around 46. Clear overnight with a low near 36. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. Thanks to Kate Corliss for handling this newsletter while I was on vacation last week. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Cate Le Bon, “Heaven Is No Feeling.” The Welsh art-rock star will occupy the Howard Theatre like a ribbon untied tonight. Frances Chang opens. Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of last year’s music recommendations. I’ll start a 2026 playlist soon. Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out: Totally f’ed up: Fresh off repeated humiliations in its flimsy prosecutions of people President Trump doesn’t like, the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project.” The investigation will be led by former Fox News star and US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro. (NYT) In a video statement, Powell said, “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.” (Federal Reserve) Trump claimed he had nothing to do with the investigation and said Powell, who he placed in the job nine years ago, is “certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings.” (NBC News) Weird coincidence alert: In late December, Trump said he might sue Powell for “gross incompetence.” (Washington Post)  Trump’s new campaign puts Hill Republicans in a tight spot. (Punchbowl News) Some see the fingerprints of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte—reportedly behind the administration’s legal maneuvers against Trump’s perceived enemies Letitia James, Adam Schiff, and Fed Governor Lisa Cook—on the investigation. (Bloomberg) The ICE storm: Thousands of people protested ICE’s deadly shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good over the weekend. (CNN) Legislators in blue states are moving to constrain the agency. (Politico) Many celebrities wore anti-ICE badges at last night’s Golden Globes. (AP)  Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration would send “hundreds” more agents to Minnesota to investigate “corruption” there. (NYT) In Minnesota, video shows that federal agents “rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside,” despite lacking a judicial warrant. They also pepper-sprayed protesters. (AP) Administration officials “blitzed the Sunday shows” to argue that Good’s killing was justified. (Politico) Noem restricted lawmakers’ access to ICE facilities after the shooting. (Axios) Administration perambulation: Trump said he’s “inclined to keep Exxon out” of Venezuela because he objected to CEO Darren Woods‘s remark that the country is “uninvestable” at the moment. (WSJ) In a separate interview, Trump said he rued the fact that he hadn’t sent the National Guard to seize voting machines after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. (NYT) Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado cannot give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Institute said. (Axios) Around 335,000 federal workers quit or retired last year. Elon Musk‘s DOGE project accounted for 11,000 of the departures. (Washington Post) Franklin Foer profiles some of the people who’ve left civil service. (The Atlantic) Unemployment among people born in the US has increased amid the administration’s crackdown on immigration. (Forbes) The National Portrait Gallery removed text about Trump’s impeachments and the deadly riot his fans staged at the US Capitol in 2021 when it installed a new photo of the President. (Washington Post) Surprise, surprise: Trump’s account of his Christmas strikes on Nigeria doesn’t align with reporting after the fact. (Washington Post) Trump’s motorcade from Mar-a-Lago took a longer route to Air Force One than normal because of a “suspicious object.” (AP) The Best Thing I Ate Last Week, by Ann Limpert: Photo by Ann Limpert. The thing I love about Pineapple and Pearls, Aaron Silverman’s Hill tasting room, is its celebration of excess in every form. There’s Loewe soap in the bathroom and LL Cool J on the speakers. And on the table, at the same time: halibut in a luxe, buttery caviar sauce, and a riff on tacos al pastor. The latter—melty pork belly topped with shavings of pink pineapple and pooled with al pastor jus—was the dish of the night. Even better was its side of tiny baby back ribs served out of a charred whole pineapple. (715 Eighth St., SE.) Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Nicklas Backstrom‘s old mansion in McLean sold for $11 million. • Cork Wine Bar and Market opened in Cleveland Park. Local news links: • The Washington National Opera will pull its performances from the Kennedy Center and wants to sever ties with the arts complex, onto which Trump recently slapped his name. (NYT) • Two George Mason University professors say it took them one hour to uncover more weirdness in the résumé of hastily installed U.Va President Scott Beardsley. (Augusta Free Press) •  Jury selection will begin today in the trial of Brendan Banfield, who’s accused of murdering his wife, Christine Banfield and Fairfax County man Joseph Ryan with the help of his family’s former au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes. (WTOP) • Alexandria Democrats will hold a “firehouse primary” tomorrow to nominate a candidate to replace state Senator Adam Ebbin, who will leave his position to join incoming Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger‘s administration. Four people want Ebbin’s old job. (ALXnow) • Jerrold Coates has been charged with murder after the death of DC police officer Terry Bennett last week. Coates had been accused of striking Bennett with his vehicle on I-695 while the officer aided a motorist. (NBC4 Washington) • Wegmans wouldn’t say whether it uses facial recognition technology at its Northern Virginia stores. (ALXnow) • A Barboursville man has been charged with assault and battery after a fight outside Dulles last week. (DC News Now) • McLean resident Jaivin Raj Karnani was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for a “sprawling luxury watch scam.” (WTOP) • Wilmer Valderrama is opening a cocktail bar in DC, apparently. (PoPville)The post Fed Man Walking, ICE Storm Continues, and Washington National Opera Will Leave Kennedy Center first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less