Good morning. This is the NOTUS Metro newsletter for Aug. 25, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
THE LATEST
It’s time to go on the offensive.
That’s the message from a new coalition of D.C. groups that will organize residents to travel to congressional districts in neighboring states to support Democratic challengers in their quest to flip the House of Representatives — and maybe even the Senate.
Trending
Known as Defend D.C., the initiative stems from the reality that D.C. — a federal district with no voting representation on Capitol Hill — is often at the mercy of Congress, and that the Republican majority that has controlled it over the past 20 months has more aggressively interfered with the city’s local affairs.
“Congress has used its power over D.C. to attack us. So Washingtonians are banding together to use our collective power to change Congress,” Robert White, an At-Large council member and the Democratic nominee for D.C.’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, said Monday at a launch rally.
NOTUS’ Martin Austermuhle reports that the effort’s first target is Republican Rep. John McGuire of Virginia’s 5th District, which encompasses a central swath of the commonwealth. But it won’t be easy, as the Cook Political Report has designated the seat as “fairly safe” for McGuire to hold.
Pro-D.C. groups are adapting their message to energize Democrats nationwide, touting the possibility that statehood could bring two more Democratic senators who could help fight the Republican agenda. It’s a big shift from past messaging around statehood, which sought to portray it as a matter of democratic principles and fairness.
“The Dakotas didn’t become two states just because,” White said of the new, overtly political approach to selling statehood. “They became two states because they said, ‘Why take two senators when we can have four?’ Well, we deserve two senators. We’re not trying to get extra, just what we deserve.”
FROM THE DISTRICT
A D.C. high school has been officially renamed after famed Georgetown basketball coach John R. Thompson Jr. Originally known as MacArthur High School, the DCPS school in the Palisades opened in 2023 to help relieve significant overcrowding at Jackson-Reed in Tenleytown. Thompson was a D.C. native, professional basketball player and longtime educator.
Google is combining its D.C. offices under one roof. The company has leased 231,000 square feet of an office building near Union Station, the Washington Business Journal reports.
The Washington Post has been ordered by an independent arbitrator to rehire opinion writer Karen Attiah and provide her back pay. Attiah was abruptly fired last fall, a decision she said was made over comments she posted to social media in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix made for the busiest Sunday on record for the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station with more than 36,000 trips, according to WMATA. The weekend saw a total of 1.15 million bus and rail trips.
D.C. is the U.S.’s second-best city for work, according to a new report by Indeed. The employment website scored cities based on metrics including job opportunity, compensation and work-life flexibility. Greater Boston took first, but D.C. performed particularly well in career mobility — meaning it’s easier to change jobs here and get a raise when you do, according to Indeed.
FROM MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA
ICE arrested more than 1,300 people in Virginia and Maryland during the first two weeks of August in a sweeping operation dubbed “Safe Community — Washington, D.C.,” the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday.
The operator of a Beltsville data center and its former CEO, Deepak Jain, will pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $1.8 million to resolve allegations that AiNET Corp. misled the agency over whether its facility met requirements.
WHAT YOU GET NEAR A GOOD SCHOOL
Listed for $1,495,000, this four-bedroom, split-level home with a spacious screened-in porch is located just a short walk away from one of the area’s best elementary schools.
Click to guess where this listing is sold:
We’ll let you know tomorrow how many of you got it right.
SPORTS
Meet Natty, everyone’s favorite National. NOTUS’ Jesse Dougherty sat down with the 6-month-old lab-retriever mix to discuss life as a team dog. As it turns out, Natty spends most of his days napping, accepting pets from major leaguers, filming promotional videos and training for his future life as a service animal. The team is hosting a six-month birthday party for him tonight as part of its annual “Pups in the Park” event. Happy birthday, Natty!
Training camp update: Monday was supposed to be an off day for the Commanders. But as NOTUS’ Martenzie Johnson reports, Saturday’s lackluster preseason performance against the Lions caused a change in schedule. The team got to work Monday in Ashburn, hoping to shore up any lingering issues with less than three weeks remaining before the start of the season.
The Mystics are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2023. Washington secured its playoff spot late Sunday with a road win over the Portland Fire.
What to Watch Today
MLB: Nationals vs. Rockies, 6:45 p.m. (MLB.TV)
WNBA: Mystics at Mercury, 10 p.m. (Monumental)
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The newsletter was produced by Jaden Amos, Michael Errigo and Nikie Johnson. Real estate photo courtesy of Mandy Barnes. Natty photo by Jared Soares for NOTUS. Finally, yesterday’s trivia answer was A) Thomas Jefferson. He was named chair of D.C.’s first public school board in 1805. A special shout-out to Robert Malesky, who answered first.
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