By: Miriam Edelman Officially, for the first time, Washington, D.C., voters will use ranked-choice voting in D.C.’s upcoming June 2026 primary elections. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog pieces, including “Initiative 83 is Law,” “Update on Ranked-Choice Voting in D.C.,” and “Another Update on Ranked-Choice Voting in D.C.” On November 24, 2025, the D.C. Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, chaired by Anita Bonds, held a public roundtable on “B

By: Miriam Edelman As it is now 2026, the U.S.’s 250 th birthday is fast approaching. Commemorations for this landmark birthday have already begun. For example, soon after the traditional ball dropped in Times Square, New York City, on January 1, 2026, a special America 250 video was played and then an America 250 ball dropped in Times Square. Many more celebrations will occur later this year. Two-hundred-and-fifty is a major number. Coincidentally, exactly 250 Members o

By: Miriam Edelman Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the third Monday in January) memorializes civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King may be the most well known for his “I Have a Dream” speech, which is he gave in Washington, D.C., in 1963. In that speech, he discussed his desire for a U.S. without segregation and racism. Dr. King supported Washington, D.C.’s attempts to secure home rule, recommending that African-American Washingtonians hold an “all-out no

By: Miriam Edelman Today (January 6, 2026) is the five-year anniversary of the insurrection of January 6, 2021. January 6, 2021, is a day that will live in infamy in U.S. history. For the first time, the transition of presidential power was not peaceful. Although the U.S. Capitol was under siege on January 6, democracy prevailed with the assistance of D.C. police, who helped save the day by reinforcing the U.S Capitol Police. The D.C. police’s actions should erase the Foundin

By: Miriam Edelman Happy New Year! It is officially 2026, a milestone year for the United States. This upcoming July, the U.S. will turn 250 years old. We will be celebrating the U.S.’s independence, which occurred after colonists were subjects of taxation without representation. Our nation is the world’s oldest democracy. It is also the world’s sole democracy whose capital’s residents do not have voting representation in the national legislature or true home rule. As a

By: Miriam Edelman Have you ever thought about who could be the U.S.’s first Female President? This piece focuses on traits of potential female Presidents rather than discussing particular women who could become President. Governor and/or Senator Two-thirds (30 of 45) people who have been President were Governor, Senator, or both. Thus, it is likely that the first female President will also have had one or both of those major government positions. However, ev

By: Miriam Edelman At an event in New York City in November 2025, former First Lady Michelle Obama asserted that the U.S. is not ready for a female President. She pointed to the 2024 presidential election when President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. However, even at the time of Harris’ loss, people refused to attribute the defeat to only Harris’ gender. Jen O’Malley Dillion, Harris’ campaign chair, said: “I do not think that this race swung solely on

By: Miriam Edelman The Trump Administration’s Department of Education (DOE) recently excluded from its classification of “professional” degrees, nursing, social work, and other fields in which women predominate. Women’s eNews reported: “The Administration’s recent proposal to remove professional recognition from several degrees is an assault on women in the workforce. Most of the targeted fields are predominantly led and staffed by women. The devaluation of women-led prof

By: Miriam Edelman Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) have been both allies and rivals in the House of Representatives. These Members, with strong ties to Maryland, were House Democrats’ top leaders for two decades. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog’s piece, entitled “DCNOW Thanks National Legend, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.” Before Congress Hoyer and Pelosi were born within a year of each other, Hoyer in June 1939 and Pelos

By: Miriam Edelman D.C.’s prolonged disenfranchisement is unfair. Throughout the past several decades, D.C. has tried to acquire at least partial voting representation in the U.S. Congress via different methods, including a Constitutional amendment, a simple Constitutional bill, a compromise bill, and statehood. Since these approaches have not been successful, D.C. residents still have zero voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Thus, since D.C. residents continue t

By: Miriam Edelman A newly restored call box memorializes the late Washington, D.C., leader Walter Tobriner near his former house at 33 rd and Rittenhouse Streets in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, D.C. According to the Washington Post’s obituary, Tobriner had “always been a strong advocate of some form of home rule for the city.” This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “Some of D.C.’s Renovated Call Boxes Honor Women.” Tobriner was a promin

By: Miriam Edelman First Lady Melania Trump (FLOTUS) recently revealed her new White House holidays display. This year’s theme, “Home Is Where the Heart Is,” shows the U.S.’s “generosity, patriotism, and unity.” According to the White House, FLOTUS selected each detail. FLOTUS completed the First Lady’s duty of overseeing the White House’s annual Christmas decoration. In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy started the tradition of choosing the official White House Chr

By: Miriam Edelman On November 25, 2025, D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she will not run for reelection in 2026. Bowser, who is 53 years old, has been a popular D.C. Mayor, having an average higher approval rating (57 percent) than all of D.C.’s recent Mayors except for Anthony Williams (65 percent). As a D.C. official, Bowser does not face term limits. On November 25 th on X, Bowser wrote: “It has been the honor of my life to be your Mayor. Together, we ha

By: Miriam Edelman Thanksgiving is a federal holiday that commemorates a harvest feast shared by pilgrims and the Wampanoag people in 1621. In 1789, President George Washington issued the U.S.’s first Thanksgiving proclamation, which turned Thursday November 26 th into a national day of thanks. In 1817, the first state to officially have a Thanksgiving holiday every year was New York. Thanksgiving became a national holiday during the Presidency of Abrahm Lincoln and is

By: Miriam Edelman DCNOW congratulates Representative Adelita Grijalva (AG) (D-AZ) on finally being sworn into office on November 12, 2025, 50 days after her victory in a special election. The delay was the longest that a victor in a Congressional special election had to wait before being sworn in. On March 13, 2025, Representative Raúl Grijalva (RG) (D-AZ), a son of an immigrant from Mexico, died at age 77 of complications from cancer treatment. After he was a commun

By: Miriam Edelman On November 6, 2025, Speaker Emerita of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced her retirement in a brief video, ending her almost 40-year groundbreaking Congressional career. The 85-year old political icon is the first and only female Speaker of the House. Until Kamala Harris became Vice President in 2021, Pelosi was the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history. Excluding Harris’ role as President of the Senate as part of her Vice Presi

By: Miriam Edelman Some women made history in state and local government due to elections of November 2025. They can inspire generations. As Virginia’s soon-to-be first female Governor Abigail Spanberger said in her victory speech: “just a few minutes ago, Adam said to our daughters, your mom's going to be the governor of Virginia, and I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before. It's a big deal that the girls and the young women I have met

By: Miriam Edelman The White House is set to have a new approximately $300 million, 90,000-square foot ballroom within the next few years. Recently, the East Wing of the White House was demolished to make way for the ballroom. DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “The East Wing of the White House No Longer Exists,” discuss this major change to the White House. Trump’s Desire for a Ballroom in the White House Trump has wanted a ballroom in the White House for at least 15 years. H

By: Miriam Edelman The East Wing of the White House was demolished, as of October 23, 2025, and will be replaced in part by President Donald Trump’s new approximately $300 million, 90,000-square foot ballroom. In contrast, the old East Wing was 12,000 square feet. According to James McDaniel, the National Park Service’s former White House liaison, the East Wing “represented the nonpolitical side, the softer side of White House operations.” He also remarked, “[y]ou fe

By: Miriam Edelman National Women’s Small Business Month (NWSBM), which occurs in October, highlights women-owned businesses. Small businesses are not necessarily very small. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, for purposes of government contracts for small businesses, the majority of “manufacturing companies with 500 employees or fewer, and most non-manufacturing businesses with average annual receipts under $7.5 million, will qualify as a small business