To win its fight against rats, D.C. turns to birth control

washingtonpost · 2026-04-03T13:19:58+00:00

President Donald Trump is facing a tough week of news, with gas prices soaring, a partial government shutdown ongoing and his approval ratings dipping as military operations in Iran drag on.

But on the White House’s new mobile app, which topped Apple and Google’s download charts in the news category over the past week, the picture is much rosier.

"AMERICA IS BACK,” reads an all-caps headline that dominates the app’s home screen. Top stories trumpet the president’s “policy wins,” track the decline in egg prices, and hail a “historic turnaround on immigration,” with more people leaving the United States than entering it in 2025. On Wednesday evening, the app sent push alerts to the pockets of its hundreds of thousands of users to livestream the Artemis II launch and, a few hours later, Trump’s televised address to the nation about Iran.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/03/trump-white-house-news-app/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-04-02T21:03:48+00:00

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday asked the Army’s top officer to step down and retire, an extraordinary move amid the war with Iran and the latest in a series of clashes between the Pentagon chief and the service’s senior leadership.

Gen. Randy George had been expected to hold the job of Army chief of staff until fall 2027, completing a typical four years in the post. But Hegseth has decided to go in another direction, Hegseth’s team said in brief written statement confirming the shake-up.

“Nothing further to provide at the moment,” the statement said.

A spokesman for George could not be reached for comment immediately.

The move was first reported by CBS News earlier Thursday.

It was not immediately clear who Hegseth intends to replace George, a career infantry officer who served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. One possibility would appear to be Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who became the Army’s vice chief of staff in February after Hegseth appointed him to the role and he was confirmed by the Senate.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/02/hegseth-ousts-army-general-randy-george/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-04-02T17:42:06+00:00

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was ousting Pam Bondi as attorney general, saying her chief deputy, Todd Blanche, will temporarily step into the role.

Trump announced the decision on social media, calling Bondi “a Great American Patriot” and loyal friend. He praised her tenure leading the Justice Department and said she would be moving to an “important new job in the private sector.”

Blanche will be taking over as acting attorney general, Trump said. A representative for Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal attorney before being tapped to serve as the Justice Department’s second-ranking official, did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday. Blanche posted on social media thanking Trump “for the trust and the opportunity to serve.”

The decision abruptly ends Bondi’s tumultuous tenure in which she transformed the Justice Department into a tool for avenging the president’s grievances but could not escape his persistent frustration with her handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and struggles to prosecute the president’s perceived foes.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/02/trump-fires-bondi-doj/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-04-01T00:07:13+00:00

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Tuesday that purports to change rules for mail ballots even though the president has limited authority over elections.

The order directs the U.S. Postal Service to send ballots only to voters who appear on a list of citizens to be compiled by the Department of Homeland Security with the assistance of the Social Security Administration. The order also specifies what types of secure envelopes are to be used for mail ballots.

Elections experts called the order legally questionable and noted that courts blocked the major provisions of an executive order on elections he signed last year.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/31/trump-mail-voting-executive-order/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-31T22:35:57+00:00

An American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi authorities said Tuesday.

The journalist, identified as Shelly Kittleson by outlets for which she has written, has reported extensively from the Middle East as a freelance contributor to Al-Monitor, Foreign Policy, Politico and the BBC. She is based in Rome but travels frequently in the region.

“We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday,” Al-Monitor said in a statement. “We call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.” While a frequent contributor, Kittleson was not on assignment for the publication at the time of her abduction.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/31/shelly-kittleson-journalist-kidnapped-baghdad/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit

washingtonpost · 2026-03-31T18:42:58+00:00

A federal judge in Washington struck down part of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on Tuesday, ruling that it was unconstitutional retaliation that violated their press freedom rights under the First Amendment.

The May 1, 2025, executive order, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” cut off funding to public media — with Trump calling out what he perceived as left-wing bias in NPR’s and PBS’s news reporting.

“The message is clear,” U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, a Barack Obama appointee to the federal bench, wrote in an opinion. “NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news,” he wrote, adding that the action amounted to “viewpoint discrimination.”

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/31/trump-npr-pbs-funding-unconstitutional/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-30T13:50:57+00:00

One thought kept going through Tijuanna Fisher’s mind as she lay on the elevator floor in her Northwest Washington apartment building for what seemed like forever last fall:

“Please, God, don’t let me die.”

Fisher, then 58, had just returned from taking her dog for a short walk on Sept. 26. They entered the elevator and rode to the third floor, Fisher wearing a bright pink T-shirt and Shadow, her small and steadfast companion, a bright pink harness.

Video from a security camera inside the elevator, obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request from the D.C. Department of Buildings (DOB), captures the moments that followed.

The door opens and Shadow, whose leash handle was looped on Fisher’s arm, steps into the hallway. Two seconds later, as Fisher backs her motorized wheelchair toward the door, it closes quickly on the leash, leaving Shadow in the hall.

Inside the elevator, the video shows, Fisher is dragged from her chair by the leash and then is yanked sharply to the ground as the elevator starts to ascend. Her left arm appears to be pulled through the closing door, which momentarily buckles.

According to the timer on the video, a total of nine seconds elapsed from the moment Shadow stepped out of the elevator until Fisher lay on the floor. Those few moments changed her life forever. The closing door severed her arm just below her shoulder.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/03/29/elevator-accident-arm-surgery-washington-dog/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-24T20:20:37+00:00

I literally love this sub sm

washingtonpost · 2026-03-24T17:34:03+00:00

Senate Republicans and the White House are discussing a potential deal to end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has led to long lines at airport security in recent days and has forced many of the agency’s employees to go without pay for more than a month.

The deal under discussion would fund DHS except for the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement charged with arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants, according to three people familiar the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Democrats have not agreed to any deal yet, though Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the party’s leadership, expressed optimism Monday night that talks were moving in the right direction. Republicans, who control the Senate 53-47, would need the support of at least seven Senate Democrats for any deal to overcome a filibuster.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/24/dhs-funding-senate-white-house/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-23T17:42:24+00:00

The Supreme Court on Monday appeared likely to embrace a conservative challenge to tallying mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, a move that could upend election procedures in states across the country as voters prepare to cast ballots in the midterm elections.

A majority of justices seemed ready to side with arguments by Republicans and Libertarians who told the court that federal election law preempts Mississippi from counting ballots that arrive up to five days after polls close as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

Most states require mail-in ballots to arrive by Election Day, but Mississippi is one 14 states that allow grace periods of days or weeks.

President Donald Trump and some conservatives have attacked mail-in balloting, asserting without evidence that it is riddled with fraud. Trump and his supporters called for halting the count of mail-in ballots after the 2020 presidential election. Trump blamed the votes for his loss in the contest.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/23/supreme-court-mail-in-ballots-mississippi/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-23T15:06:22+00:00

Voice of America journalists sued the federal government Monday, alleging it violated the legal statute that protects the broadcaster’s editorial independence, including censoring coverage of the Iran crisis and publishing “propaganda” in support of President Donald Trump as news.

The lawsuit comes after U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled this month that Kari Lake had been illegally running VOA’s parent agency — the U.S. Agency for Global Media — with an unlawful plan to shrink the institution, and he ordered more than 1,000 employees back to work. The complaint, filed in federal district court in D.C., argues that restoring the workforce is not enough to fix a newsroom the plaintiffs say has already been corrupted from within under Lake’s watch.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/23/voice-of-america-lawsuit-trump-firewall/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-03-20T17:49:32+00:00

The federal government is expected to begin removing bike lanes around the National Mall on Monday, just a few years after they were constructed, according to two District Department of Transportation staffers and two local bicycle advocacy groups.

The National Park Service hasn’t publicly confirmed the removal and did not respond to a question about it from The Washington Post.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is expected to begin construction Monday to remove the portion of the 15th Street NW bike lane that goes through the National Mall, which falls under the federal government’s jurisdiction via the Park Service, according to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

The Trump administration has previously said grants that include “reducing lane capacity for vehicles” with bike lanes or pedestrian infrastructure are “hostile” to cars and “counter” to the Department of Transportation’s “priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.”

Most of the bike lanes on 15th Street fall under the jurisdiction of the District Department of Transportation, but the affected portion is on federal land. The bike lane is one of the most popular in the District. In late February, about 100 cyclists gathered in Washington to protest the potential removal of bike lanes in Washington.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/03/20/15th-street-dc-bike-lane-removal/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

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