D.C.’s thriving restaurant scene took a big hit in 2025, and the head of the city’s restaurant association is warning that 2026 could be another rough year.

A record number of eateries in the city shut down last year, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. President Shawn Townsend said 92 restaurants closed in 2025, up from 73 in 2024, and almost double the number of closings in 2022.

He said it’s no secret why 2025 was such a bad year.

“Tariffs and inflation and other things that impact the industry — the federal workforce, the increase in law enforcement presence,” he said.

Townsend said in order to right the ship for the restaurant industry, the priority of city and government leaders must be to create new jobs in D.C.

“If we don’t find things to replace those bodies, that foot traffic cannot come back,” he said.

Restaurants openings have also slowed, down 30% in 2025, and Townsend said there will likely be fewer openings than normal in 2026. He said the restaurants that do open will not be what we’ve been used to in the thriving D.C. food scene.

“We’ll be seeing less full-service restaurants. It’s that middle market that’s being squeezed right now, and I think if things don’t change, we’ll continue to see that middle market vanish,” Townsend said

Townsend said getting a great meal in D.C. has never been a problem and is hopeful that innovation allows that to continue.

“We’ve got to figure out how to adapt, we’ve been good at adapting for so long. I think this is just one other phase where we all have to figure out how to move forward,” Townsend said.

But Welch and Palka aren’t fire-and-brimstone populists. They are careful. Disciplined. They speak moderation while building something more durable: nurturing a generation of young conservatives who will carry their teachings into agencies, congressional offices, the judiciary, and a returning Republican administration.

So does King’s function as a soft-power pipeline for young conservatives in Washington? Its leaders bristle at the suggestion.

“We have nothing to do with getting people jobs…. We have never, ever, ever done that,” says Palka. “I do think it could be a by-product, though.”

“Part of the Christian faith is that we don’t compartmentalize it,” says Welch. “So we want people to see that it does influence [your career], just like how your faith influences your family, your relationships, your kids, so that’s just natural to how the church operates—it’s not like this is the goal.”

King’s has done 250 baptisms in eight years. Palka jokes more than once that I could be baptized at their next ceremony. When I ask how long it takes to join the church, he smiles: “It could take 15 minutes, it could take 15 years.”

He believes Gen Z is drawn not to megachurch gimmicks like slingshots and zip-lining pastors but to ancient ritual. King’s recites the Nicene Creed weekly, rare among evangelical churches. Members must affirm nine core beliefs: God as Father, Son, Holy Ghost; Jesus fully God and fully human; born of a virgin; lived without sin; died; rose again; and will return to judge the living and the dead. Scripture is final. The church must carry out Christ’s mission until he returns.

“They’re looking to retrieve some of those anchors that have been lost,” Palka says. “That is something the young people are flocking to—the high church liturgy.”

Space, not attendance, is King’s real problem. Expansion plans to cities like Paris and Berlin are on hold until they secure a permanent space in DC, and they need money. Their flock consists largely of interns and junior staffers, earnest but broke.

Palka knows that securing a physical home would give King’s another ring of relevance, one more proof point that the church can be an institution.

“We thought we’d have a building by now,” says Palka. “You can hit up a denomination for funding, but this capital campaign, it’s been very slow.”

Worshippers show up a half hour early to claim seats, and some longtime congregants have grumbled about the intern influx. One faction, calling itself “King’s Church Members Take a Stand,” lines the back wall to save room for newcomers.

They launched with a $50,000 loan from the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board—small by megachurch standards but enough to launch a movement. “I would love if we had a building of our own one day,” Palka says. “All the statistics say it gives the Church credibility, it makes it more real in people’s eyes when you see that it’s their location.”

Robertson, the 26-year-old running the intern ministry, may be one of the church’s most influential figures. “It’s a really interesting city,” he says. “The fact that 25-year-olds kind of run the government.” He is, in effect, their shepherd.

Conservatism Inc.

For interns living on stipends, King’s offers free lunches, Nationals tickets, and speaker events featuring K Street veterans, senior aides, operatives, and even a Fox News producer. There are mixers too, where future staff assistants meet future legislative directors.

For the Republican Party, that makes King’s more than a church. It’s a long-term investment.

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will urge Group of Seven nations and others to step up their efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China when he hosts a dozen top finance officials on Monday, a senior U.S. official said.

The meeting, which kicks off with a dinner on Sunday evening, will include finance ministers or cabinet ministers from the G7 advanced economies, the European Union, Australia, India, South Korea and Mexico, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

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Together, the grouping accounts for 60% of global demand for critical minerals.

“Urgency is the theme of the day. It’s a very big undertaking. There’s a lot of different angles, a lot of different countries involved and we really just need to move faster,” the official said.

Leaders agreed to an action plan at the summit to secure their supply chains and boost their economies, but Bessent has grown frustrated about the lack of urgency demonstrated by attendees, the official said.

Aside from Japan, which took action after China abruptly cut off its critical minerals supplies in 2010, G7 members remain heavily dependent on critical minerals from China, which has threatened to impose strict export controls.

China dominates the critical minerals supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency. These minerals are used in defense technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries and refining processes.

The U.S. is expected to issue a statement after the meeting, but no specific joint action is likely, the official added.

US URGES OTHERS TO FOLLOW ITS LEAD

“The United States is in the posture of calling everyone together, showing leadership, sharing what we have in mind going forward,” said the official. “We’re ready to move with those who feel a similar level of urgency … and others can join as they come to the realization of how serious this is.”

The official gave no details on what further steps were planned by the Trump administration, which is pushing forward to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on China through agreements with Australia, Ukraine and other producers.

The official said there had been progress, but more work was needed. “It’s not solved,” they added.

Monday’s meeting comes days after reports that China had begun restricting exports to Japanese companies of rare earths and powerful magnets containing them, as well as banning exports of dual-use items to the Japanese military.

The meeting was planned well before that action, U.S. officials said. China was still living up to its commitments to purchase U.S. soybeans and ship critical minerals to U.S. firms.

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