WASHINGTON (AP) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser drew a laugh from the room when she was asked how it feels to manage a mercurial relationship with the White House and Congress — while, by the way, also trying to run a city of 700,000 people.
“It is just like you might imagine," she deadpanned. "It's tricky.”
A few hours after that comment Monday, Bowser's balancing act with President Donald Trump was on public display. She appeared with Trump to celebrate Washington being named as host for the 2027 NFL draft and maintained a poker face while Trump talked at length about immigration.
Bowser also continues to lobby the House of Representatives to pass a simple fix that would prevent the nation's capital from having to immediately cut $400 million from its 2025 budget in the middle of the budget year. The House essentially created the shortfall earlier this year when it eliminated a little-known provision in a budget resolution. The change would force the District of Columbia to immediately revert to its 2024 budget parameters.
And while the Senate immediately passed a simple fix, the House has failed to bring that measure up for a vote during four weeks in session — despite it being publicly endorsed by Trump. Bowser has warned that layoffs, furloughs and service cuts could be coming — and within days — if the issue isn't resolved.
Now Bowser’s relationship with the D.C. Council is coming under public stress. The third-term mayor faces a looming showdown with the council over a host of budget issues and her new deal to bring the NFL’s Washington Commanders back to the nation’s capital.
Citing the uncertainty surrounding the 2025 budget, Bowser has delayed submitting a proposed 2026 budget to the council by more than a month. But D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has publicly complained that Bowser is dragging out the process.
“We can’t wait longer to start making the service reductions and cuts,” Mendelson said Monday of the 2025 budget cuts. “She has to move forward now.”
Bowser maintains she is following the proper timeline and protocol required by the city’s chief financial officer. But Mendelson contends that Bowser was using the delay to “jam the council” and force it into a pressurized deadline where city legislators wouldn’t have time to properly question either the budget or the particulars of the Commanders agreement.
That stadium deal should prompt a robust debate when it comes up for D.C. Council approval. When it was first announced, Mendelson said he didn't think it had enough votes to pass. But different members of the 12-person body have staked out widely varied initial positions.
First-term Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker called the chance to bring football back to the nation's capital and revitalize the site of the old RFK Stadium “a once in a generation opportunity.”
Parker said he believed the deal would and should pass; he simply wants to make sure the city gets the best deal possible.
But veteran Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen has taken a harder public line. He says he opposes the entire concept of a stadium — especially if any significant amount of public money is spent on the project.
“I don't think a stadium returns back the economic investment. Every study under the sun shows that,” Allen said last week at a public meeting to rally opposition to the stadium deal. “You can love football and love the Commanders and still think this is a bad deal for the city.”
President Donald Trump, from right, departs as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser look on after an event to announce that the 2027 NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, May 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce that the 2027 NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, May 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
