Good morning. Partly sunny with a high around 92 and chances of rain or even thunderstorms after 3 PM. Rain and storms are likely tonight with a low near 68. Sports this weekend: The Nationals—whose bullpen blew another lead in spectacular fashion last night—visit the Baltimore Orioles tonight, Saturday, and Sunday. The Mystics visit the Connecticut Sun this evening and host the Portland Fire on Sunday. The Washington Freedom play the Texas Super Kings Saturday and the San Francisco Unicorns on Sunday, with both matches taking place in Oakland.  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: Tortoise, “Oganesson.” Follow your bliss to the 9:30 Club Sunday when Tortoise gets groovy with help from Basic.  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: This again? Iran yesterday attacked the Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz near Oman, saying it would enforce a requirement that any boats moving through the waterway used routes it approved. (WSJ) The attack emphasized the fragility of Tehran’s peace negotiations with the US after the four-month-long war President Trump started in February and demonstrated that, contrary to Trump’s claims, Iran still controls the waterway. (NYT) The UN’s International Maritime Organization paused a program of escorting ships through the strait. (Politico) Oil prices nonetheless continued to fall. (Reuters) The national average price of a gallon of gas fell below $4. (AAA) Still, inflation hit its highest point since October 2023, and the Federal Reserve may soon raise interest rates. (CNBC) More war after effects: Iran’s attacks on a US Navy base in Bahrain were far more extensive than the Pentagon has acknowledged, and the US may soon attenuate its presence in the region. (WSJ) The Pentagon’s shortage of weapons due to the war “might take years to reverse.” (NYT) The Supremes: The US Supreme Court blessed vast swaths of Trump’s immigration crackdown, allowing the administration to end protections for people from Haiti and Syria who were following US rules and to turn away people seeking asylum. (NYT) Some context from earlier this year: More than 6,000 Haitians work in Florida’s health-care industry. (WTVJ) The court also struck down Hawaii’s law that required people carrying guns to seek permission from private property owners first. (AP) Lawmakers are now “reassessing which firearm restrictions they can enact that this court will let stand.” (Axios) The high court also ruled that Bayer could not be sued over the lack of cancer warnings on its weed-killer Roundup. The MAHA movement is not thrilled. It’s the latest wedge in a growing rift between the movement and the administration. (NBC News) More decision days are coming as June nears its end. (Politico) The Hill has no chill: House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to finesse a tough week when Trump blew up plans to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at reducing housing costs. The measure will go to the White House, he said after a meeting with Trump yesterday. Will the President sign it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (NYT) Trump told House GOP hard-liners, particularly US Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, to abandon a blockade of House business unless the Senate passes a voting overhaul that Trump desperately wants. Senate Republican leaders say the votes aren’t there. (Politico) Trump’s fixation on what he sees—and has been unable to prove—as widespread voter fraud “is crashing into the limits of his power ahead of November’s midterm elections.” (Axios) Health-news corner: CDC emails show how the agency struggled to meet Health Secretary RFK Jr.‘s demands, “often on matters regarding vaccines and autism.” (NYT) Kennedy “urged a Libertarian congressional candidate in Iowa to drop out of a competitive House race to help Republicans keep control of Congress.” (Washington Post) Trump nominated top RFK Jr. aide Chris Klomp to be deputy secretary of HHS. (Politico) Administration perambulation: John Bolton will plead guilty to one count of mishandling sensitive government information this morning. (Washington Post) A federal judge refused to end a lawsuit against the Justice Department that seeks proof it will scuttle a planned $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump, “saying that she didn’t trust assertions by administration officials that the fund would not move forward.” (NOTUS) A different federal judge ordered DOJ to release more files on the deceased, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, including materials that plaintiff Katie Phang says mention Trump. (Axios) The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general will examine the deaths of people detained by ICE and the suitability of DHS standards regarding detainees. (NBC News) Former Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith sued the Pentagon, arguing that her firing in April was in retaliation for writing critical columns about changes the Defense Department made to the newspaper. (Washington Post) Water in the Capitol’s Reflecting Pool is nice and clear—what does the Architect of the Capitol know that Trump doesn’t? (Politico) Gregg Phillips, the FEMA official who claimed he once teleported to a Waffle House, has been pushed out of the agency. (Washington Post) Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • How did the Kennedy Center get to such a parlous state of affairs? Our big package from our new print issue introduces you to some of the people who’ve been affected by the complex’s Trump-era uncertainty and ponders our region’s “Shear Madness”-less future. • Speaking of our new issue, take a look inside the Best of Washington, on stands now. • The National Park Service confirmed in a court filing that it will drain the Reflecting Pool after July 4 in an attempt to turn around *that* particular debacle. • Robert Rauschenberg, Kurt Vile, and a Smithsonian sleepover: Our July arts preview just landed. • Sapphics, a big weekend awaits. Here’s a list of queer and lesbian events in Pride Month’s waning days. • Our photographer took in the scene at Trump’s Mall rally. • The National Geographic Society’s new Museum of Exploration opens today. We got an early look at what’s inside. Local news links: • The National Park Service claimed that someone cut a long gash in the Reflecting Pool’s painted bottom, echoing Trump’s recent claims of vandalism in the renovation project that he otherwise appears to have completely botched. (NOTUS) • Teenagers are reportedly the people who fired Roman candles into a crowd watching “Jurassic Park” in DC’s Alethia Tanner Park Wednesday evening, causing a panic. (DC News Now) • Nakita Walker got 29 years for a deadly crash she caused on Rock Creek Parkway while fleeing police after a traffic stop in 2023. (Washington Post) • The Washington Blade has a new publisher: Brian Pitts takes over today from Lynne Brown, who joined the publication in 1987. (WCP) • A water treatment facility in Manassas said a leak of thousands of gallons of sodium hypochlorite yesterday won’t affect drinking water. (Fox 5) Weekend event picks: Friday: National Geographic’s new Museum of Exploration opens. Saturday: Experience home-brewed cycling mayhem at the Red Bull Spin Off. Sunday: It’s Day 2 of Giant’s 34th annual Barbecue Battle. See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post Waffle House Teleportation Guy Loses FEMA Job, Park Service Embraces Trump’s Theory About Reflecting Pool Vandalism, and Teens Fired Roman Candles Into DC Movie Night first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less