Loose Lips is Washington City Paper‘s flagship political column, covering all things D.C. politics. Here you will find stories about the D.C. Council, local politicians, the mayor, attorney general, ANCs, elections, government agencies, and more.
Bowser’s Budget Gimmicks Could Derail D.C.’s Clean Energy Programs. Can the Council Block Them?
Mayor Muriel Bowser is selling her decision to repurpose roughly $182 million in funding for clean energy projects as a responsible, pragmatic move to save the city money on its energy costs while at the same time looking out for people grappling with rising utility bills. But is any of that spin true? Lawmakers and…
Ex-Employees Raise Concerns About Shadow Senator Hopeful Eugene Kinlow’s Years Working for Bowser
Back in May 2023, Mayor Muriel Bowser was nearing another showdown with House Republicans on Capitol Hill. Congress had just overturned its first District law in decades, and the GOP had called for another showy hearing to slam the overwhelmingly Democratic city as a crime-infested hellscape. This would, theoretically, be a huge moment for Bowser’s…
A Campaign Contractor is Suing Veda Rasheed, Roiling Her Ward 7 Council Bid
Outwardly, Veda Rasheed might look like she’s in a good spot in the Ward 7 Council primary. She’s broadly seen as a top contender among ward activists, she’s raising plenty of money, and she just scored an endorsement from the notoriously deep-pocketed Democrats for Education Reform. Behind the scenes, however, her campaign has been roiled…
An Imposter Is Trolling the Bowser Administration by Posing as DDOT’s Director on Social Media
If it seems like the DDOT director’s account on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter has gotten extra spicy recently, there’s a good reason: It’s an impostor. As entertaining as it might be to think of newly anointed Acting Director Sharon Kershbaum posting AI-generated renderings of a double-decker highway over Connecticut Avenue NW,…
Bowser Sends Opioid Funds to a Friend’s Public Relations Firm With a Questionable Past
Love her or hate her, Mayor Muriel Bowser is undeniably loyal to her friends—even if that gets her into a little bit of trouble sometimes. In the latest demonstration of playing favorites, Bowser’s government delivered a $500,000 contract to a marketing firm run by one of her longtime friends, 2014 campaign spokesperson Everett Hamilton. That…
Will Tough-on-Crime Politics Work Against Janeese Lewis George?
Loose Lips predicted six months ago that Lisa Gore would run a tough-on-crime campaign. And that bit of forecasting in her challenge to Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George seems to have been spot-on. LL did not have it on his bingo card, however, that Gore would do so by calling Lewis George a lawmaker…
There’s a Chaotic 10-Candidate Race to Replace Vince Gray in Ward 7. Has a Front-Runner Emerged?
With less than two months until the Ward 7 Council primary wraps up, Wendell Felder has been hit with more than his fair share of slings and arrows. But he doesn’t mind. “As the front-runner, with all this momentum, more attacks are starting to come my way,” he tells Loose Lips. That might sound bold,…
Employees at D.C.’s Crime Lab Blew the Whistle to an Advisory Board. Lab Leaders Ousted All Its Members.
If you’re running a troubled government agency (of which there are plenty), you can choose the hard way or the easy way to deal with internal critics. You can thoughtfully engage with their concerns and try to transparently address them, or you can accuse them of wrongdoing and then force them out the door. As…
Bowser Tentatively Backs Payroll, Sales Tax Hikes in Her New, Constrained Budget
Mayor Muriel Bowser made a very telling error as she introduced her decidedly austere 2025 budget to the Council Wednesday. “You know by now that I take revenue increases lightly,” she said, missing a very important “don’t” ahead of “revenue increases,” according to her prepared remarks. This elicited a round of snickers in the Wilson…
Bowser’s 2025 Budget Wipes Out Pay Raises for Child Care Workers. She Blames the CFO.
Early childhood educators can probably kiss some badly needed raises goodbye, thanks to Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee and Mayor Muriel Bowser. Herroner’s 2025 budget proposal, finally unveiled Wednesday after weeks of delays, realizes the worst fears of D.C. child care workers and their allies in the city’s progressive community. It completely wipes out a…
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