Washington, D.C

Lawmakers want the Washington Commanders to play in DC, but Maryland and Virginia also are interested

Published

2 years ago

January 25, 2024

Lawmakers want the Washington Commanders to play in DC, but Maryland and Virginia also are interested

The regional debate over the location of the Washington Commanders‘ next home is intensifying after the NFL team’s first season under new ownership, with Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia each seeking leverage in their bids.

In Washington, D.C., Congress is looking to help the local government draw the football team back to the district for the first time since 1996, when it moved to FedEx Field in Maryland. Considered one of the worst stadiums in the NFL, owner Josh Harris began looking for a new home for his team soon after his purchase of the team was ratified in July 2023. Part of his search includes rebuilding relationships previous owner Dan Snyder burned over the years in the DMV area.

Each jurisdiction could appeal in different ways to Harris, with Washington, D.C., having boosters in Congress. A measure to overhaul the team’s old home area, in a stadium area blocks from Capitol Hill, the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, came under consideration in a “bipartisan fashion” by the House Oversight Committee in mid-January. That after being stalled since September of last year, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told the Washington Examiner.

The legislation was first introduced in July last year by an unlikely pair: Comer, known for leading investigations of wayward presidential son Hunter Biden, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). That happened the same month Harris’s purchase was ratified.

The proposal would require the federal government to lease the RFK land to the D.C. government for 99 years, allowing them to redevelop the land as they choose. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a vocal advocate of the bill, has long had her eyes set on building a new stadium in that area to bring the Commanders home to the district.

The measure last took a markup vote on Sept. 20, 2023, advancing the bill to a full House vote, but it has been stalled since then. Comer said that, following “meaningful discussions” with Bowser and local stakeholders, “it became clear that revitalizing the vacant RFK stadium campus is a top economic priority for the nation’s capital.”

Military aircraft during a flyover Fedex Field before the start an NFL football game between Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Football Team, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“Congress can help pave a path for local D.C. leaders to create meaningful new jobs, add millions in city revenue, and transform the city’s RFK waterfront site into a lively destination for all,” the Kentucky Republican said. “I remain dedicated to working in a bipartisan fashion and hopeful that we can move legislation as quickly as possible.”

However, Washington, D.C., has distinct disadvantages in the form of adversarial council members, defiant local residents, and the overall burden of a taxpayer-funded sports arena. And one of Mayor Bowser’s biggest blows gave Virginia an edge.

In December, the commonwealth declared victory after the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals announced plans to leave Washington, D.C., for a new sports arena in the Potomac Yard area. The pending moves suggest the district is unable to support national teams, a particularly harsh blow to Bowser’s image.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, said when announcing the deal that it was the culmination of “many years of dreaming” and would be good for the taxpayers in the commonwealth.

“Virginia has a tremendous opportunity to be the home to multiple professional sports teams. The Monumental announcement is a one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment district that will generate $12 billion of economic impact and create 30,000 jobs in Virginia,” Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Other organizations will have to decide on what they’re going to do but it should be a collaborative effort between our administration, our general assembly and the locality to make sure that it is a good deal for Virginia taxpayers.”

“Governor Youngkin believes Virginia is the best place to live, work, raise a family, and watch your favorite professional team win!” Martinez continued.

In October, Washington, D.C., residents in the Kingman Park area near the RFK Stadium delivered Bowser another major blow: a survey commissioned by the neighborhood’s civic association found two-thirds of the roughly 2,500 people polled opposed the idea of building a new stadium. A large majority of the respondents ranked a new stadium dead last after green space, housing, and playgrounds as options for revitalizing the area.

The top complaint among residents and D.C. council members has been the use of taxpayer funds to lure a team back to the district, bringing traffic, drunk fans, opportunities for crime, and rats along with it, according to Washington City Paper.

Bowser’s office declined to comment to the Washington Examiner about Congress revising the RFK Stadium bill or how bringing the Commanders back to Washington, D.C., could affect the district.

Some D.C. council members have argued that trying to keep the Wizards and Capitals from leaving the district is how D.C. tax dollars are best spent, rather than attempting to lure the Commanders back to a home area that they left nearly 30 years ago.

“I think that’s the responsible thing for us to do is to consider all of our options that are on the table,” Councilwoman Christina Henderson said in September. “But at the end of the day, again, it’s going to be about priorities. … We really have to focus on the teams that we currently have in the district and shoring up to make sure that they remain. The dollars and cents only go but so far.”

Maryland lawmakers seem to agree. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), motivated by a desire to keep the Commanders in Maryland, had supported a provision from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) that would block public funds for a new stadium under the RFK Stadium bill. The amendment failed to pass, but it did not ease the worries of those who believe the stadium will ultimately cost more than it’s worth.

Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) arguably has the most leverage and the most to lose. So far, Maryland is the only jurisdiction with an available site and the ability to provide public funding. Harris also owns the land where FedEx Field resides, so even though the lease ends in 2027, the team could stay indefinitely in a modern stadium if one is built. Moore spent the last few months engaging with the Commanders owners and attended four of the team’s games this past season, according to his staff.

“The Commanders have called Prince George’s County home for the last 25 years, and the governor is committed to continuing that longstanding partnership,” press secretary Carter Elliott said to the Washington Examiner.

Moore said in December that, though two D.C.-area sports teams are heading to Virginia, he is not worried about losing the third, the Commanders, to the commonwealth or anywhere else.

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“I want the Commanders to stay in Maryland,” Moore said in December, also citing the expanding Metrorail line in Maryland. “We have already, as a state, allocated $400 million that’s going towards the Blue Line corridor because we believe in a larger development and creating the live, work, play environment.”

Moore, elected governor in 2022 and known as a big sports fan, added, “My eagerness and aggressiveness in trying to keep the Commanders here in the state of Maryland is not at all impacted by what we saw with the [Capitals] and the Wizards.”

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Washington, D.C

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

Published

11 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

One family, four generations with DC Metro

As Metro celebrates 50 years of service, one D.C. family is marking the milestone with a legacy of their own — four generations who have all worked on the system, helping keep the region moving for decades.

WASHINGTON – D.C. residents got on their first Metro train 50 years ago on March 27, 1976. Here’s a look back at the beginning.

Connecticut Avenue; NW; looking south. evening traffic-jams are aggravated by metro subway construction in Washington D.C. ca. 1973 (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

View of the Metro Center subway station (at 13th and G Streets NW) during its construction, Washington DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Warren K Leffler/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

Standing in the cavernous tunnel, planners wearing hard hats discuss the construction progress of the Metro Center subway station at the intersection of 13th and G Streets in Washington, DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Leffler/Library of Congress/In

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 07: FILE, Metro construction miners and blasters on a jumbo drill outside the hole they are working on at Rock Creek Parkway and Cathedral Ave NW in Washington, DC on November 7, 1973. (Photo by James K.W Atherton/The Washin

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 4: FILE, View of the Post Office at North Capital and Mass Avenue NE, and 1st NE where subway tunnels were being constructed in Washington, DC on March 4, 1974. (Photo by Joe Heiberger/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 29: FILE, Workers rig a pipe at the entrance to the Rosslyn Metro Station in Washington DC on August 29, 1974 (Photo by Larry Morris/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: FILE, The crowd at Rhode Island Station on opening day of the Washington Metro on March 27, 1976. (Photo by James A. Parcell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: FILE, Reverend Leslie E. Smith of the Episcopal Church, right, and George Docherty of New York Avenue Presbyterian church hold a joint service at the new Metro Center station in Washington, DC on March 28, 1976. (Photo by D

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 1: FILE, An aerial view of metro construction where it crosses the Washington Channel. The Potomac River, the Pentagon and Northern Virginia can be seen in the distance. (Photo by Ken Feil/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 27: FILE, A packed train of commuters on the Silver Spring metro on the Red Line on January 27, 1987. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 4: FILE, Thousands of people press their way into the Smithsonian Subway station after the Independence Day fireworks in Washington, DC on July 4, 1979. (Photo by Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Washington, D.C

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Published

23 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Among the liquor store, barber shop and dry cleaners at the Watergate Complex’s retail plaza, there is a new pop-up museum dedicated to the scene of the crime that toppled Richard Nixon’s presidency.

The temporary exhibit features the work of artist Laurie Munn — portraits of members of the Nixon administration and those connected to the Watergate break-in. The exhibit features members of Congress, the media and some who were on President Nixon’s enemies list.(WTOP/Jimmy Alexander)

Keith Krom, chair of the Board of Directors of the Watergate Museum, told WTOP the exhibit was first featured in the gallery in 2012 for the 40th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee.

“When she (Munn) learned about our museum effort, she offered to reassemble them as a way for us to expand awareness of the museum,” Krom said.

Krom, who lives in the Watergate, said his favorite portrait is of one of the special prosecutors, whose firing sparked the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.

“I had the pleasure of being a student of Archibald Cox,” Krom said. “He served as my mentor for my third-year writing project.”

Krom said during this time, at the Boston University School of Law, he spent a great deal of time with him.

“I didn’t realize how much he must have gone through. Here he was, this one man, who was challenging the president of the United States over something pretty serious,” Krom said.

The pop-up opened in October and was recently extended to stay open until April 25. Krom said the hope is to find it a permanent location within the Watergate Complex, where they can “present the history of Watergate, but with two perspectives.”

The first would be on the building’s “architectural significance to D.C.,” he said.

“You may not like the design, you actually may hate it,” Krom said. “But you cannot deny that it changed D.C.’s skyline.”

The secondary focus would, of course, be on the mother of all presidential scandals that changed the course of American history.

“That’s where that suffix ‘-gate’ started and continues to be used for almost every scandal that comes out today,” Krom said.

The inspiration for the museum spawned from an interaction from a tourist outside the Watergate.

“He says, ‘This is the Watergate, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s one of the buildings,’” Krom recalled.

The tourist then asked Krom, “So where’s the museum?”

“I was like, ‘Oh, we don’t have a museum.’ And he literally just looked at me and said, ‘That’s so sad.’ And he got on his bike and rode away,” Krom said.

While the self-proclaimed political history nerd said he “still gets goose bumps” when he drives by the Capitol at night, Krom hopes that when people leave the museum, “they’ll walk away with a new appreciation for how our government works, the guardrails that are in place.”

“Maybe an understanding that those guardrails themselves are kind of frail, and they probably need our collective help in making sure they last — that’s what we hope to accomplish,” Krom said.

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Washington, D.C

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Almost at peak! A view of the cherry trees in Washington DC show they’re about to burst into peak bloom very soon. Image: NPS

According to the National Park Service at the National Mall, famous cherry blossoms around the nation’s capital have hit peak bloom conditions. The National Park Service X account for the National Mall proclaimed this morning, “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM!”

It became apparent yesterday that the bloom would be at peak today. “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White,” the Park Service wrote on X yesterday. Stage 5, “Puffy White”, is the final stage blossoms go through before being in full bloom. They start at Stage 1 as a “Green Bud”, grow into Stage 2 with “Florets Visible”, and then florets become extended at Stage 3. In Stage 4, there is “Peduncle Elongation” which sets the stage for the puffy blossoms to appear in Stage 5. Puffy White and Peak Bloom are defined as when 70% of the blossoms on the trees reach that stage.

An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC's parks. Image: NPS — An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC’s parks. Image: NPS

Peak bloom varies annually depending on weather conditions; the most likely time to reach peak bloom is between the last week of March and the first week of April. According to the Park Service, extraordinary warm or cool temperatures have resulted in peak bloom as early as March 15 in 1990 and as late as April 18 in 1958.

Cherry blossom in Washington DC. Image: Weatherboy

The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or “Sakura,” is an important flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a symbol with rich meaning in Japanese culture.

Dr. David Fairchild, plant explorer and U.S. Department of Agriculture official, imported seventy-five flowering cherry trees and twenty-five single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in Japan. After experimenting with growing them on his own property in Maryland, he deemed that the cherry tree would be perfect to plant around the Washington DC area. This triggered an interest by a variety of individuals to plant the tree around Washington. In 1909 the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, donated 2,000 trees to the United States on behalf of his city. When the trees arrived, they were riddled with disease and insects and to protect other agriculture, they were burned. The Tokyo Mayor made a second donation of trees in 1910, this time amounting to 3,020 trees. This started the forest of cherry trees that now line the Potomac basin around Washington DC. In a gesture of gratitude back to Japan, President Taft sent a gift in 1915 of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. Thousands of trees have been added since, including another gift of 3,800 trees from Japan in 1965.