D.C. United’s 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night turned swiftly and severely, from a deficit at even strength to a tied match with a man advantage and, before long, a lead that would hold up through an uncomfortable second half.
Washington, D.C
D.C. United holds on tight to hold off shorthanded Sounders in 2-1 win
United (3-3-4) ended a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) and won for just the second time since opening day.
It did not come easily. Despite playing a man up for more than 60 minutes, United performed as if it were the shorthanded team. The Sounders applied enormous pressure in the second half and threatened to sneak out with a point. Alex Bono’s sensational save in the 88th minute preserved the victory.
“We could have managed the game much better,” said Benteke, whose eight goals are one behind MLS leader Lionel Messi. “This is a part of the game where we have to improve, to complete our game and to manage the game.”
After a subpar performance at New York City FC last weekend, United had reason for optimism Saturday. Right back Aaron Herrera and midfielder Mateusz Klich returned from yellow-card suspensions, and rookie forward Jacob Murrell, a first-round draft pick from Georgetown, made his first start after five quality appearances as a sub.
United answered Coach Troy Lesesne’s call for a better start than its slumber in New York, playing with purpose and passion. Opportunities, though, were unfulfilled before and after Seattle’s icebreaker.
In the 14th minute, at the end of a long possession that began in Seattle’s end, Jordan Morris crossed to Léo Chú for an uncontested header past Bono.
“Even though we give up the early goal,” Lesesne said, “I still feel like we were pushing the game in the right way.”
The game flipped dramatically when Jared Stroud got behind defender Cody Baker on Christopher McVey’s long ball and was taken down by Frei. Not only did United receive a penalty kick — Benteke converted easily — but Frei was sent off. Andrew Thomas, who started three matches for the injured Frei early this season, entered. With the Sounders (1-5-3) needing to remove an outfield player, Chú was sacrificed.
United took advantage in the 45th minute. Herrera crossed to the back side of the six-yard box. Positioned behind 5-foot-8 Cristian Roldan, the 6-3 Benteke won the aerial battle as if no one was there and powered a six-yard header over the leaping Thomas.
For a team playing with an extra man, United conceded too much space and possession early in the second half, leading to some anxious moments.
“It just was kind of a choppy game,” Lesesne said. “A lot of set pieces, too many fouls from us. That breaks up the rhythm. So that’s something we have to be aware of. We want to be aggressive, but we don’t want to create fouls that slow the game down and then allow them to put balls in our box that are really dangerous.”
Benteke threatened to complete a hat trick in the 59th minute with a booming side volley that skipped over the crossbar, but United continued to struggle keeping possession. João Paulo hit the near post. Martín Rodríguez’s timely tackle in the box prevented Seattle’s Raúl Ruidíaz from shooting deep in the box.
In the waning moments, Bono extended himself to his left to touch aside Albert Rusnak’s header and Cristian Roldan failed to make solid contact inside the six-yard box.
“He’s been phenomenal all year,” center back Lucas Bartlett said of Bono. “We love the relationship we have built. We trust him, and he trusts us.”
The end of six minutes of stoppage time brought relief to the antsy crowd and to a D.C. squad that was clinging desperately to three points.
Here’s what else to know about United’s victory:
During the pregame team photo, players held up Russell Canouse’s No. 6 uniform — a show of support for the 28-year-old midfielder, who is expected to miss the season after having his colon removed last month.
When the sixth minute passed, fans in the supporters’ groups held up small “6” posts and unfurled a banner that read: “Husband. Father. Fighter. 6 Get Well Soon Russell.”
Captain Steven Birnbaum was in uniform for the first time this season — his 11th with the club — after undergoing knee surgery in February. Still about a week from being fully ready, the center back did not play.
Forward Ted Ku-DiPietro (adductor) and defender Conner Antley (calf) remain sidelined. Lesesne said they would need to make “a lot of progress” to return next week against visiting Philadelphia.
With Tyler Miller (25 starts in 2023) back from last fall’s shoulder surgery, Luis Zamudio will go on loan to a team in the second-flight USL Championship. Miller’s return will “create competition [for the starting job], and that’s a good thing,” Lesesne said.
Washington, D.C
The director of the Congressional Budget Office—known for its gloomy national debt data—is very optimistic that a crisis will be avoided entirely | Fortune
Dr Phillip Swagel is an optimist, both by nature and when he looks at the U.S. economy.
This fact is perhaps at odds with what one might assume: Swagel is the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan agency that offers independent budgetary and economic analysis to Congress.
Very often—an inevitable occupational hazard—the subject of national debt and the interest the U.S. Treasury pays to maintain is its central focus. The numbers are eye-watering: Public debt stands at more than $39 trillion. The interest expense on that borrowing now exceeds $1 trillion a year. Indeed, the latest budget update from the CBO highlights that the government—according to preliminary estimates—paid out nearly $530 billion between October 2025, when the fiscal year starts, and March 2026. This equates to more than $88 billion in interest payments a month, or more than $22 billion a week.
The CBO’s figures are routinely cited by policymakers, think tanks, and lobbyists as alarming evidence that the U.S. needs to find a more sustainable fiscal path or risk dire straits.
Swagel doesn’t subscribe to the notion that the U.S. will face a crisis of its own making. His justification is simple: He was at the Treasury during the 2008 financial crisis, and joined the CBO months before the COVID pandemic began. He has watched as the U.S. economy, seemingly against all odds, has clawed its way out of economic crises before.
That’s not to say Swagel isn’t a staunch advocate of setting the U.S. on a more sustainable fiscal path—rather, he trusts the people in power to do so when the time comes.
Why the optimism?
Among those concerned about national debt are notable names: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also worried about federal spending and has endorsed a plan floated by Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett that would render members of Congress ineligible for reelection if they allow deficits to exceed 3% of GDP.
On the other hand, optimistic economists suggest that, despite the value of the debt, it’s not actually an issue: the bond market is holding steady, indicating a reliable market of buyers. Likewise, the U.S.’s own central bank buys huge swaths of the debt, meaning, in the simplest of layman’s terms, the economy can essentially print its own money. There are holes in this argument, not least the fact that Fed chairman nominee Kevin Warsh has suggested he would like to reduce the Fed’s balance sheet and may therefore be less inclined to finance borrowing.
Swagel’s positive outlook doesn’t rely on the argument that a crisis hasn’t happened yet, so therefore it never will: “[My optimism] is rooted in my experience,” Swagel tells Fortune in an exclusive interview in Washington D.C. “First being at Treasury during the financial crisis and seeing very difficult times and the country coming together with an effective response—not saying it’s perfect, lots of controversy—but it was effective.”
“The second thing is policymakers are smart, they’re thoughtful. Interacting with members of Congress makes me optimistic. I know you read about all the squabbles … I’m completely aware of this, but the policymakers that are thinking about these things are thoughtful and effective. Not necessarily always effective at passing legislation, but that’s part of our political system, it was set up to make it difficult ot pass legislation.”
Decisions on the horizon
Swagel’s optimism that Congress will be pushed into action will be tested sooner rather than later, likely at some point in the next six years, he told Fortune. This is partly due to the fact that, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) both Social Security and Medicare will become insolvent within that time period.
“Making progress to address the fiscal trajectory would be a positive for the U.S. economy,” Swagel said. “Credible steps would lead to lower interest rates that would make the subsequent adjustment easier, there is a reward to virtue. It’s a positive thing, we can’t go on [with] the scolding narrative. My sense is that members of Congress understand the fiscal situation, it’s not that everyone single one has looked at our one-pager of numbers and understands the debt to the third decimal point, but they understand something needs to be done.”
“It doesn’t have to be done immediately, but at some point reasonably soon.”
Swagel is of the opinion that bond investors haven’t increased risk premiums not because they’re not worried about a fiscal crisis, but because they have priced in preventative action from Congress—in his mind “a vote of confidence that my optimism is not misplaced.”
“As a country, we face up to these problems. It’s not happening now, I’m not sure it’s going to happen in the rest of this year or even the next year, or the next two years. But we will face up to it, and the market in some sense expects us to, because otherwise interest rates would be higher,” he explained.
The Cheesecake Factory
The role of the CBO, to some extent, is to provide policymakers with their options if and when they do choose to take action on federal deficits. It’s a menu not unlike the Cheesecake Factory, Swagel says: Large, inclusive of a range of modifications and options, and delivered without judgement.
“Right now it’s maybe a pick three, and you’re looking at a six or seven course menu,” joked Caleb Quakenbush, director of fiscal policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, in an interview with Fortune. “The longer you delay, the more you’re gonna have to add to your tab, and those options become more expensive.”
Indeed, economists and analysts aren’t necessarily worried about the absolute level of government debt, rather the debt-to-GDP ratio. Depending on whom you ask, the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at around 122% of GDP at present. This measure demonstrates an economy’s spending versus its growth, and the risk associated with lending to a nation that isn’t growing fast enough to handle its spending. To rebalance that ratio, an economy could either cut spending or increase growth—the latter being by far the less painful option.
The growth option is becoming less feasible, Michael Peterson, CEO of fiscal think tank the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, told Fortune in an exclusive interview: “I think it requires government action because we’ve waited so long. We’ve added so many trillions, and the current deficit is so big at 6% that the level of growth you would need really exceeds what is feasible.
“Growth needs to be a part of it, but it’s sort of a vicious cycle. The longer we delay, the more debt we have, the slower growth is going to be. The more we get this under control, I think the greater optimism there is, interest rates go down, more growth comes from that. It’s sort of a virtuous or vicious cycle depending on your policy response.”
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.
This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.
Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.
Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
More Tallahassee news:
The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.
Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.
The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.
We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
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4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
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