We are being governed by the most corrupt, self-serving President this country has ever seen. DC has borne the brunt because we are not a state. The attempt to seize control of DC's public golf courses is another (small) example of how this harms regular people in DC and nationwide

Another bad sign for D.C.: Tighter immigration policies are reducing tourism revenue. Domestic visits to D.C. far outpace international ones, but international tourists tend to spend much more money.

There's been another setback for the @dcaffordability.bsky.social ballot initiative that would impose a two-year rent freeze in D.C., among other provisions. A legal assessment from @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social says a provision changing how D.C. spends money on affordable housing is unlawful.

This is good, but there should be triggers for the Office of Planning to apply for Map Amendments to the Zoning Commission to implement any FLUM changes, or they won’t do anything.

The “Porchfest Permitting Temporary Amendment Act of 2025” (B26-502) was formally transmitted to Mayor Bowser today, requiring a response by January 13, 2026. This will be the law of the land for 225 days (i.e., through mid-late August 2026): lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

Interesting: @brianneknadeau.bsky.social has a new bill that would require that D.C.'s mayor set five-year goals for housing construction (affordable and market) and give them additional authority to propose ways to reduce barriers to construction in places that don't meet the goals.

Free DC has been an incredible grassroots response to the relentless federal attacks against our city. At a time when DC residents were told they have no voice and no say, @freedcproject.bsky.social empowered people to speak up and take concrete actions in defense of our communities and Home Rule.

For the first time since *September 9, 2022*, residents served by the nine Metrorail stations north of the Mt Vernon Square 7th St-Convention Center station on the Green Line will also receive Yellow Line service beginning next Wednesday! Direct access to DCA here we come!

At 10am, Jan. 16, ‘26, the DC Council’s Committee on Facilities is holding a hearing on “Maintenance, Construction, and Environmentalism Regarding DPR Indoor and Outdoor Facilities and Spaces” & @chenderson.bsky.social’s “PARKSNREC Amendment Act of 2025” (B26-161): lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

We’ve improved how traffic signal issues are reported through 311. With clearer categories and more options, you can quickly select the problem with no lengthy typing. This now includes traffic lights, walk signals, push buttons, LED pedestrian signs, and school zone flashers.

After our story on this, @janeese4dc.bsky.social is out with a statement saying she's "deeply concerned" that DC seems to have walked away from negotiations on taking over the tennis center. She wants Bowser to submit a bid to lease the facility now that NPS has chosen this path:

Mayor Bowser returned the “Porchfest Permitting Emergency Amendment Act of 2025” unsigned to the DC Council, so it’ll officially be the law of the land from December 30, 2025-March 29, 2026. The soon-to-be enacted temporary version of the bill will be in effect through Sept. 2026

District government workers get 3 hours of PTO this week (late afternoon of Dec. 24), while federal workers get 16 hours of PTO (all day on Dec. 24 & Dec. 26). Make it make sense.

BREAKING: The Trump administration is suing D.C. over its ban on semi-automatic (AR-15) weapons. DOJ's Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon is seeking a court ruling that D.C.'s law "prohibiting registration of the AR-15 by law-abiding citizens violates the Second Amendment."

This looks like it happened in Petworth this morning in my old ANC SMD 4D04, at the southeast corner of Emerson St. & Illinois Ave. NW - @chenderson.bsky.social @janeese4dc.bsky.social @petworthnews.org

I just caught this driver pulling onto the MBT at T Street NE. I waved them back. ANC 5F has called for bollards and planters at all potential vehicle ingress points to the MBT. @ddotdc.bsky.social has ignored us, and pretended that this isn't the biggest safety risk on the trail.

They got rid of the extended sidewalk at this bus stop on M Street in Georgetown and this is what happens now every single day.

After a bit of a delay, Lewis George's full report is online, confirming these numbers: $219k raised from about 2,500 D.C. donors. Some notable names among the contributors: CMs Brianne Nadeau, Zachary Parker, Charles Allen, Robert White and Christina Henderson.

We knew it was coming, but @mayorbowser.dc.gov has formally created the RFK Stadium Project Management Office, which will take the lead on coordinating and facilitating all the work to build a new Commanders stadium and the related residential and retail development at RFK.

Good news for DC: the Senate just voted 53-43 to confirm Stephen Rickard, Elana Suttenberg, & John Truong to serve as DC Superior Court Judges through 2040—this will fill 3 of the 12 existing vacancies on the court. 2 more vacancies coming in Jan. though: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

A bit delayed, but the “Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Act of 2025” survived the 60-day congressional review period & was officially enacted into law on Dec. 6! The FY26 BSA covers any budget changes that require a change in law, through Sept. 30, 2026: lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

You can see the details here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

👀

In testimony to D.C. Council, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke says a key to getting people to and from the new Commanders stadium at RFK will be bus rapid transit from Union Station. "It's critical... we need to be able to get a lot of people on the Red Line and take BRT to the site," he says.

👏👏👏

Looks like the full House Natural Resources Committee will be marking up the "Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act of 2026" (H.R. 5103) at 10am, Wed., Dec. 17. The bill would "codify and expand upon key provisions of [Trump's] EO 14252": docs.house.gov/Committee/Ca...

NEW: DC and 20 states are suing Uber for deceptive Uber One subscription practices. Uber enrolled customers in Uber One without their consent, charged users before their free trials ended, and made it nearly impossible to cancel subscriptions. Over 100,000 DC residents are Uber One subscribers.

Well put by the Post re: accurate description of what’s it like to be an ANC commissioner: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

👏👏👏

“Once construction ends, the planned Yellow Line extension to Greenbelt will begin on Dec. 31. Half of Yellow Line trains will operate between Huntington and Greenbelt and the other half will operate between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Square.” Petworth to DCA here we come!

Ahead of tomorrow's D.C. Council vote on a bill delaying ranked-choice voting, five candidates in the Ward 1 race say lawmakers should "bolster the efforts of the Board of Elections rather than wasting time and sowing doubt about the rules of an election that is underway."

In local FY27 budget news, the DC Council is scheduled to approve the “Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Submission Requirements Resolution of 2025" tomorrow, which requires the Mayor to submit her proposed FY27 budget to the Council & public by *April 1, 2026*! lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

❄️Quick-hitting snow late tonight ⏰Heaviest ~4–7a 📏~1–2" around D.C. (less SW, more NE) 🥶Frigid Sun–Mon; wind chills in the single digits anad teens 📢CWG.live

But that’s very obviously not true!

The @janeese4dc.bsky.social campaign tells me they actually believe they raised about $218k from about 3k donors (2,500 from DC). They believe this is the biggest single campaign finance report in DC history: For context, Bowser had about 3,800 DC donors over the life of her 2022 campaign.

This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t... and these are our closest allies!

As a refresher, here’s what the City Administrator said about the congestion pricing study back in February 2024 at a DC Council performance oversight hearing:

DMPED is soliciting feedback on what to do with the parcels on the part of Georgia Ave. NW across from Emery Heights Park (where Simple Bar used to be). Hearing is on Jan. 5; comments due by Feb. 6. Could be a great spot for a new library, grocery store, and housing! @janeese4dc.bsky.social

The last remaining local FY26 budget bill, the “Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Act of 2025”, will be enacted into law effective *Thursday, December 18*. The DC Council passed the FY26 BSA back on July 28 and it was signed by the Mayor on Sept. 4: lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

Update: A proposed ballot initiative would increase D.C.’s minimum wage to $25 by 2029 and get rid of the tipped wage by 2031. It would also require that service charges go to employees. The initiative is being pushed by same groups behind I-82, which was partially repealed.

Just a reminder that the DC Council voted 13-0 on November 7, 2023 for Pamela Smith to serve a *4-year term* as Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (i.e., through Nov. 7, 2027), so she’s departing a full 23 months early… lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

The DC Council’s Committee on Public Works is holding an oversight roundtable tomorrow on “A Deep Dive Into DPW Trash and Recycling Collections, Public Litter Can Installation & Removal, & Residential Street Sweeping”; 8 current/former ANCs are testifying: lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hea...

Looks like there’ll be a DC Council public oversight roundtable from 11am-3pm, Wed., Dec. 17 on “Transit Planning for the RFK Campus Redevelopment” - “Participation in the roundtable will be limited by invitation.” lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hea...

I’m sure the failure of the DC Council to delay ranked-choice voting earlier this week had absolutely nothing to do with the longtime incumbent At-Large CM deciding to finally call it quits today RCV is already having an impact, and we’re still 6 months from the primary ;)

Now that CM Bonds is officially not running for reelection, I think the probability of her and McDuffie doing a party registration switcheroo within the next couple of weeks is significantly higher now… This would allow McDuffie to keep his At-Large CM seat through Jan. 2, 2027.

As a parent of a now middle-schooler, I'm really hoping and expecting that by the time she hits 8th grade she's reading novels in school. But that's not happening everywhere in D.C., as I learned from this informative op-ed in @51st.news: 51st.news/opinion-dcps...

After her Politics Hour appearance @janeese4dc.bsky.social tells me she's now up to 2,200 DC donors, blowing past records. She got in a dig at the big-money donors surely gearing up to run ads against her too: "They've raked in a lot of dollars over the years from the maintaining of the status quo"

New: Ranked choice voting looks like it's coming to DC next year. What will that mean for 2026? Candidates are changing their strategies, with more willing to jump into these races if RCV will be in place. Could we see cross-endorsements as we did in NYC? It's on the table: wamu.org/story/25/12/...

DOT is “interested in design concepts and construction and financing proposals for the development of completely new terminals and concourses to replace or build upon the existing main terminal and satellite concourses at Washington Dulles International Airport.” Due by Jan. 20:

On Dec. 1, a DC Superior Court judicial nomination was made: Christopher De Bono, currently serving as Senior Counsel in DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. De Bono will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Heidi Pasichow on June 27. There are 8 remaining vacancies…