Good morning. It’s tax day. Mostly sunny today with a high around 93 (!). Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 71. D.C. United will host One Knoxville SC in a U.S. Open Cup match today. The Nationals are still in Pittsburgh. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’ s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Dead Meadow, “Voyager to Voyager.” The onetime DC band’s adventures in unreasonably heavy psychedelia continued with last year’s album of the same name. Prepare to explore the dustiest reaches of your mind when Dead Meadow plays Pearl Street Warehouse tonight with Cory Shane and Caustic Casanova. Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too. Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out: War news: The US and Iran are amenable to extending their ceasefire for another two weeks, mediators said early Wednesday. (AP) President Trump described the war he started with Iran as “close to over” in an interview that will air later today, according to a clip released last night. (Fox News) The US said it had blockaded Iran’s ports. Trump also claimed the US had accomplished regime change in Iran (it has not) and said talks with Iran were likely to restart after they collapsed last weekend. He also said the ceasefire was unlikely to be extended, so who knows about that one. (Reuters) Israeli and Lebanese officials met in DC Tuesday for talks to end the conflict there. (NYT) Israel’s war on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah “has so far killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and wounded thousands more.” (AP) Is the pope Catholic? Vice President JD Vance warned Pope Leo XIV to “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” (USA Today) Over the weekend, Trump tried to pick a fight with the pope, who has been critical of Trump’s war. Vance, a convert to Catholicism who has a book about his faith due out soon, also said he has “a lot of respect for the pope.” (NYT) House Speaker Mike Johnson said he advised Trump to delete a social media post that depicted the President as Jesus. (Politico) Trump’s war and weekend antics have left some of his base “exasperated” and “puzzled.” (Politico) Pirro hour: US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro asked a federal appeals court to throw out convictions for leaders of extremist groups convicted of seditious conspiracy after Trump’s fans attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, following his election loss to Joe Biden. (AP) Trump commuted the sentences received by leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys on his first day back in office but their appeals had continued. (Politico) Prosecutors from Pirro’s office “showed up unannounced Tuesday at the construction site for the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation,” a sign their investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell that Trump sought continues. (WSJ) The US Senate will hold a hearing next week about Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Powell when his term as chair ends next month. US Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina has said he won’t allow any nomination to proceed while Pirro’s investigation of Powell continues. (NYT) Meanwhile: The Department of Justice released a report claiming the Biden administration had “egregiously weaponized a law that has historically been used to prosecute people who physically block women from entering abortion clinics.” (Washington Post) Administration perambulation: The US killed four more people in an attack on a small boat in the Pacific yesterday. (NYT) The administration may nominate Erica Schwartz to lead the CDC. The agency “has been without a permanent director for all but 29 days since Trump took office in January 2025.” (Washington Post) FIFA executives hope their prez, Gianni Infantino, will leverage his friendship with Trump to ask him to hold off on ICE enforcement during this summer’s World Cup. (The Athletic) Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the body could act quickly to confirm a new Supreme Court justice if a vacancy opens and Trump nominates someone—perhaps US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. (Politico) A lawsuit filed by a former Reuters editor says he was fired after he criticized his employer for selling data products to ICE. (404 Media) King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Great Britain will visit the White House at the end of this month. They’ll also visit Virginia. (ABC News) Trump said he would erect “a 4,500 seat arena” on the White House grounds for a UFC event planned there this summer. (Deadline) Asked about claims by Gregg Phillips, a top FEMA official, that he had teleported to a Waffle House, Trump said, “I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I’ll find out about it right now.” (CNN) How to get tickets for the White House garden tour, by Daniella Byck: Photograph via the White House‘s Flickr page. Twice a year—once in the spring, once in the fall—visitors have the opportunity to stroll through the White House gardens. The springtime tours will take place this weekend on Saturday, April 18, from 10 AM to 4:30 PM and Sunday, April 19, from 10 AM to 2:30 PM. Free timed-entry tickets are doled out first-come, first-served basis at the White House Visitor Center (1450 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) starting at 8:30 AM. Passes are limited to one per person, so make sure your whole crew comes out. The tour covers the White House Kitchen Garden, the Rose Garden—which is really more of a rose-lined patio these days—and the commemorative trees planted by past Presidents. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Linh Mai, the sassy new baby elephant at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, will finally meet the public a week from today. • The DC delegate race between Robert White and Brooke Pinto is getting personal. • Here’s what you need to know about DC Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s war on rats. • The Atlantic says the cranberry-walnut loaf at Le Diplomate is the nation’s best bread. We went down for a taste. • Shay Taylor-Allen‘s Match Day moment went viral. The Howard med-school grad tells us about her life in DC. Local news links: Abigail Spanberger news: Virginia’s governor signed a bill that ends tax exemptions for Confederate organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She already signed a bill that discontinued a Virginia license plate honoring Robert E. Lee, a traitor to the US who lost the war the South fought to try to preserve slavery. (NYT) She signed a bill adding Virginia to a group of states that have pledged to eventually “award their presidential electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner.” (NPR) Spanberger wants the launch of Virginia’s recreational marijuana market delayed by six months and asked for higher taxes and new criminal penalties, including for minors caught with weed and people who use it in public. (Marijuana Moment) She signed and amended legislation about guns, including a ban on s0-called assault weapons and magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. (Virginia Mercury) • The National Park Service removed a sign that explained the racist beliefs of former US Senator Francis Newlands, for whom a fountain on the border between DC and Maryland is named. (NBC4 Washington) • A tip based on facial recognition software led to an Oklahoma woman being jailed for six months on charges of bank fraud in Maryland—a state she had never visited. (Washington Post) • DC’s Board of Zoning Adjustment hasn’t been able to achieve a quorum for more than a month, stalling dozens of projects. (WCP) • A woman died and a man is hospitalized after house fire in Bethesda this morning. (WTOP) • DC cops arrested and charged someone they say stabbed another person on the D20 bus. (WUSA9) • Police in Harford County, Maryland, charged a DC police officer with “with sexual solicitation of a minor and child pornography.” The accused officer, Matthew Mahl, was previously the head of the DC police union. The department revoked his police powers and placed him on leave. (NBC4 Washington) • Police in Laurel are looking for people who used pickaxes to burgle four restaurants. (DC News Now) • Leesburg will use funds raised in part from data centers to buy a farm once owned by the Cook family. The vice mayor says the town overpaid. (WUSA9) • Bees swarmed on L Street. (PoPville) • Maryland may soon have a state shark. (NBC4 Washington) Wednesday’s event picks: • Hayley Williams plays a sold-out show at the Fillmore Silver Spring. • Tonight’s NMWA Nights event will feature fashion made from upcycled materials. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post US Vice President Offers Theological Advice to Pope, King Charles Will Visit DC and Virginia, and Maryland May Soon Have a State Shark first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less