Washington, D.C

Danny De Gracia: With DC In Chaos, We Need To Assess Local Needs, Pronto

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2025

Danny De Gracia: With DC In Chaos, We Need To Assess Local Needs, Pronto

When crises occur, our institutions are often ill-suited to respond due to excessive pedantry, navel-gazing and an overall lack of initiative. The best way is to just start figuring out what needs to be done.

We now have a president who issues on-the-fly directives that no one understands how to implement, and even fewer understand the implications of what these policies will mean for state and local governments.

I get the sense that Republicans and Democrats alike are taking a wait-and-see approach to the second Donald Trump administration’s policies, at least with respect to how they will deal with the effects of reduced (or completely cut) federal funding, reductions in federal agencies, and even how tariffs will affect everyone’s bottom line.

What does this mean? Elected Republicans may or may not personally agree with the blitz of executive orders, but you can bet all of them are going to pretend in public that they do, saying at best, “I have some concerns about (fill in the blank issue)” if their conscience or their constituents are giving them flack over it.

For the elected Republican, the game theory likely works like this: Perhaps, for example, they want the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies functionally gutted by DOGE; perhaps not. But they’ll let it happen anyway because they don’t want to be attacked over it, and they may even revel in it the whole way.

If this results in a beneficial outcome, they’ll claim to have supported it the whole time. If it doesn’t, and their constituents start revolting to the point they are endangered for reelection, they’ll claim that they had “concerns” the whole time. How do I know this? Just look at the manic way that legislators like Sen. Lindsey Graham flip-flop constantly.

Will Democrats Be Part Of The Solution?

And let’s not get started with the Democrats. If John F. Kennedy were alive today, he’d likely write a book entitled “Profiles in Cowardice” as an inglorious sequel to his “Courage” book.

Democrats are in the unique position of having a moral hazard where they can do one of two things: A) Do their constitutional duty in both federal and local government to “check” perceived abuses by the president, but in doing so, mitigate the effects of bad policies; or B) Allow the Republicans to succeed at everything on purpose so that they produce the obvious chaotic outcomes that will incense the American public against them, thus leading to a Democratic wave in the next election.

Mr. and Mrs. Hawaiʻi, you’re sandwiched between two useless factions in Washington, D.C., who are thinking more about their careers than they are about your safety, security and future prosperity. The good news is, all across America, the real rubber will meet the road in days to come with state legislatures and city councils who can (and should) fill the gaps left by the federal government.

With everything that’s going on in the White House, action needs to be taken at the State Capitol so that Hawaiʻi can be ready to respond. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2025)

If I were the president of the state Senate or the speaker of the House, the first thing I would do right now would be to get a full-spectrum policy perspective from 60,000 feet to ground level in Hawaiʻi about potential gaps and oversights that need to be addressed.

I would suggest the immediate creation of a “State of Hawaiʻi Next Steps Needs Assessment” in which, over the course of a narrow two-week period, the Legislature solicits qualitative data in the form of key interviews. Talk to everyone from residents who are in underserved and vulnerable communities, to people and organizations who will be affected by changes in federal funding or staffing, all the way up to subject matter experts in highly technical fields who have strategic concerns about public safety or regulatory moral hazards. The responses, with the help of artificial intelligence, can then be coded.

Do It Before The Session Ends

This is a little more advanced than your ordinary “information briefing” where legislators sit and watch PowerPoints and ask a question or two, because it would be structured specifically at getting as much information in the shortest amount of time possible and turning it around to reprioritize legislation before the current regular session ends.

In cases where the state constitution does not allow us to modify viable existing bills to fit new needs, a special session can be held to allow for follow-up. This can also include partnership with county councils, for even more local support for closing gaps.

We need to know, for example, if there’s a report someone wrote warning about a critical local safety risk, that’s now going to be sat on or ignored because their agency has been gutted. Or we need to know if there’s a program that was funded and is no longer that is going to result in a cliff effect that causes something in our local economy to flounder.

At the conclusion of the legislative session of the Senate, President Ronald D. Kouchi made his rounds while other Senators were greeting each other. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2024) — Senators were in a celebratory mood when they adjourned the 2024 legislative session, but this time around there may be quite a bit of unfinished business. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2024)

This information can then be organized and uploaded to a publicly visible website where all Hawaii residents, and especially community-based organizations, could read the key informant interviews and see the various trends. For example, maybe a nonprofit might see a list of people who they could personally help offset the termination of a grant, or they may be able to provide a service that is no longer available.

In either case, knowing what’s out there will be essential to preventing a crisis in the days to come where the current administration’s approach of “cut it all off, those people will figure it out” leaves too much to chance.

In closing, I would also like to make a personal appeal to our congressional delegation to try and talk offline to our new director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Say what we may about her now, as someone who is close to the president, we should attempt to appeal to her previous, earlier virtues as a progressive and mention that the “old” Gabbard would have thrown previous presidents under the bus for doing (and saying) the things that our current president is doing.

I don’t remember the first DNI, John Negroponte, having as much time, post-9/11, as Gabbard does now to do TV interviews and social media posts, so she should have the scheduling freedom to be able to meet with her Hawaiʻi peers.

This is not about party anymore. This is about what can we do to ensure that things work for as many people as possible, without leaving gaps that invite chaos or harm upon our nation and states. Let’s get on that, ASAP.

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Washington, D.C

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

Published

8 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

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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Washington, D.C

‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.

In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.

“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”

Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.

Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.

“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.

“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”

Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”

A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.

Rachel Reeves posted this image on Instagram from Washington DC on Thursday with the message: ‘Friends that run together – work together.’ Photograph: Rachel Reeves/Instagram

Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.

Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.

But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.

“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”

At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.

The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.

Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.

For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.

“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.

“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”

For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.

In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.

Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.

“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”

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