Good morning. Sunny with a high around 81 today. It’ll be pleasant overnight, as well, with a low near 57. The Nationals’ homestand against Atlanta wraps up today. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. Do you know someone we sho uld name one of this year’s Tech Titans? Nominate them here. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Róshildur, “Tími, ekki líða.” Some lovely lo-fi pop from Iceland. Róshildur plays a showcase of Icelandic music at Songbyrd tonight with Inspector Spacetime and Hermigervill. 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 war with Iran now exists in “a crippling limbo between war and peace that leaves the Strait of Hormuz closed and the prospect of escalation looming.” (WSJ) The US intercepted three Iranian ships in waters near India. (Reuters) Iran attacked a third ship near the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. Should the war end, “it will take six to eight weeks just to reposition the world’s tanker network.” (AP) The Pentagon said that if the US and Iran reach a peace deal, clearing mines from the strait could take six months. (Washington Post) It remains unclear when the two countries will meet again. President Trump claimed yesterday that Iran agreed not to execute eight women who’d been arrested for protesting the regime “in a sign of respect for him.” Iran “called the whole issue ​a fabrication and said Trump was trying to save face.” (Reuters) Iran “maintains more military capabilities than the White House or Pentagon has publicly admitted,” US officials said. (CBS News) The war at home: Amid all this, the administration forced out Navy Secretary John Phelan yesterday. Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao—who ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia in 2024—will become the service’s acting secretary. (Washington Post) The ouster of Phelan, the Navy’s top civilian, is unlikely to affect the war. Phelan reportedly clashed repeatedly with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg. (NYT) Administration officials are “no longer making predictions about energy prices” as the war drags on. (Politico) The national average price for a gallon of gas remains over $4. (AAA) The Senate rejected another attempt by Democrats to assert Congress’s role in the war. (CBS News) Federal Bureau of Intimidation: The FBI reportedly investigated New York Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she looked into director Kash Patel‘s use of SWAT teams to protect his girlfriend, the country singer Alexis Wilkins. It’s the latest example of the administration “examining whether to criminalize routine news gathering practices that are widely considered protected by the First Amendment.” (NYT) For reasons that remain unclear to me, many journalists still plan to gather alongside administration officials in DC this weekend for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Trump reportedly plans to “launch a ‘revenge’ attack on the White House media” at the event, then scamper away. (Daily Beast) Meanwhile, on the Hill: The Senate voted early this morning to adopt, via the resolution process, a budget resolution that could fund the Department of Homeland Security through the remainder of Trump’s term. (Politico) But first it has to get through the House, “where its future is far from certain amid an intense Republican push to expand the bill’s scope beyond immigration enforcement.” (Punchbowl News) The number of working days for Congress before this fall’s midterm elections is dwindling, so some in the Senate hope that Trump fast-tracks any further cabinet changes so the chamber can consider them. (Politico) Over in the House, a GOP plan to gut the Endangered Species Act on Earth Day went awry. (NYT) Do the maps: Republicans in Virginia hope to use the courts to derail a redistricting plan voters approved Tuesday. Jay Jones, the commonwealth’s attorney general, said his office would move to quickly appeal a pause on the plan imposed by a Tazewell County Circuit Court judge yesterday. (Virginia Mercury) There’s also a push afoot to redraw maps in Florida. (NYT) But Trump’s push to add to the GOP’s edge in Congress has up to this point “left Republicans no better positioned to retain the House.” (Washington Post) Republicans fear the initiative “has backfired.” (WSJ) Administration perambulation: The Justice Department agreed to pay former 2016 Trump campaign adviser Carter Page $1.25 million to settle his claim that authorities overreached when they investigated his travel to Russia. It’s the “latest payout by the Justice Department to someone aligned with President Trump.” (NYT) The CDC halted publication of a study that showed the Covid vaccine “reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by about half.” (Washington Post) Some GOP members of the House Oversight Committee favor granting a pardon to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to elicit testimony about the deceased, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Politico) The administration is close to a deal to rescue Spirit Airlines. (WSJ) Sean Plankey withdrew as Trump’s nominee to run the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, saying it was clear the Senate would not confirm him. (Politico) Julia Varvaro, a top counterterrorism official at DHS, was placed on leave “during an investigation into claims that she bilked her ‘sugar daddy’ out of tens of thousands of dollars.” (New York Post) Health Secretary RFK Jr. debuted a bold new form of math yesterday, telling Congress that discounts of more than 100 percent in the prices of drugs are possible. (NYT) Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen: Photo by Ike Allen. When the owners of Manhattan’s Tenri Tagh Uyghur Cuisine decided to sell the place and decamp to Northern Virginia, they originally intended to retire. But they couldn’t stay away from the restaurant business, and we’re all the beneficiaries: Mom’s Uyghur Cuisine opened on a picturesque Shaw corner this month, in the space formerly occupied by BKK Cookshop. They seem to have the formula down already: a big plate of hand-pulled lagman noodles—piled with diced peppers, slices of beef, and big chunks of garlic—really hit the spot when I visited this week. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • The International Spy Museum named Mark Jacobson—an expert in propaganda, disinformation, and psychological warfare—as its new historian. • Heather Podesta and Stephen Kessler have put their Kalorama house on the market. Local news links: • New Kennedy Center head Matt Floca said the planned two-year closure of the center was his idea, though “officials acknowledged that even after the two years, patrons may not see much of a difference in the physical look of the building when it reopens.” (CNN) • Two-year-old Royce Hawkins was found yesterday morning after authorities issued an Amber Alert. Police charged a man in the killing of his mother. (Washington Post) • Federal prosecutors indicted six people they said were members of an international car-theft ring. DC’s interim police chief said the group, which mostly targeted certain Honda and Acura models, accounted for “20 percent of all the motor vehicle thefts in the city so far this year.” (Washington Post) • Bustamante Leiva, who stole former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem‘s purse at a DC restaurant last year, got three years. (DC News Now) • Authorities in Montgomery County have charged Michael Raul Bilecky, an “archaeological researcher and explorer from Chevy Chase” who recently appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience,” with multiple counts of second-degree rape and assault. Bilecky’s attorney says the charges “are false.” (BethesdaToday) • Metro’s board will vote today on a budget that includes plans to eventually automate the Red Line. (ABC7) • An Arlington gymnastics program was saved after a public campaign. (Fox 5) • Ben’s Chili Bowl will replace its famous mural and has asked the public for suggestions about whom it should include. (NBC4 Washington) • US Representative Tim Burchett of Kentucky claimed on social media that “our van we take to baseball” was stolen, calling it “the most Washington DC thing ever.” Later he clarified that in fact another member of Congress had taken the van. Surprisingly, this is not the weirdest thing Burchett has said this month. (Jacob Rubashkin/X) Thursday’s event picks: • Jon Lovett appears at the Lincoln Theatre. • The Black Women in Food Summit kicks off. • Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Debussy at Strathmore. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post FBI Investigated Reporter Who Looked Into Security for Director’s Girlfriend, Congressman Updates Claim That Van Was “Stolen” in DC, and RFK Jr. Debuts New Form of Math first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less