Aaron Wiener

Also, hi! I'm fully installed here in Germany as the @washingtonpost.com Berlin bureau chief. Please follow me for news out of Germany and central Europe, and random musings on beer, trains, and sausages.

Germany, long tightfisted, goes on a spending spree with new budget After constitutional changes earlier this year that released Germany’s “debt brake,” the cabinet unveiled a federal budget calling for historic borrowing.

15 years ago: Germany was Europe's debt police, forcing its neighbors to cut spending and cap deficits

Today: The German cabinet approves a budget that envisions a *172-billion-euro* deficit.

How did we get here? I explain:
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Trump’s bill ends tax on tips. Here’s how other countries tax them. The U.S. is an outlier on tips. President Donald Trump’s tax bill would allow workers to deduct them from federal taxes.

Trump's Big Beautiful Bill will eliminate taxes on tips. Here's how other countries tax them—and why the U.S. is such an outlier: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Trump praises increase in German military spending, then adds:
"I’m not sure General MacArthur would have said it’s positive… He made a statement, 'Never let Germany rearm.' ...
There’ll be a point where I’ll say, ‘Please don’t arm anymore.’"

Poles vote in tight presidential election with high stakes for E.U. Exit polls showed a race that was too close to call, with liberal Rafal Trzaskowski leading nationalist Karol Nawrocki by a fraction of a percentage point.

My first Poland dateline: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

(And yes, I had pierogies while I was there. And yes, they were delicious.)

The Polish election is too close to call, with both candidates saying they expect to win. Exit polls show a tiny advantage for liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, but it's well within the margin of error.

I'll have a story up shortly.

For anyone watching the Polish presidential election: I'm told the early exit polls, not yet released, show a 50-50 race.

This one could be a nail-biter. It's likely we won't have official results until the morning.

The economic trend lines for D.C. don't look great, per a report just released by the D.C. CFO's office (with data from March):

D.C.-area economy starts to show deep impacts of federal spending cuts Concerning data in the D.C. region indicates that an economic slump is underway, pointing toward a prolonged contraction or possible recession, experts say.

D.C.-area economy starts to show deep impacts of the Trump administration's job and spending cuts - deeply reported story led by @aaronwiener.bsky.social @abha-b.bsky.social @federicacocco.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

I'll deeply miss the Post local team—one of the best teams in journalism, period—and the D.C. housing/real estate beat, one of the most important and fascinating areas a guy could ever hope to report on.

Thanks to everyone who's shared tips, offered feedback, or just read the coverage.

So many of the world's most important stories right now run through Berlin and Europe—the deteriorating U.S.-European relationship, tariffs and global trade, Europe's role in the Ukraine war—and I can't wait to shake the rust off my German and cover them.

Aaron Wiener named Berlin Bureau Chief

I'm excited to share that this summer, I'll be moving to Germany to become the @washingtonpost.com Berlin bureau chief. www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2025/04/2...

States vie for D.C.-area federal agencies as relocation plan deadline nears State officials see an opportunity in the Trump administration’s push to move federal agencies out of the D.C. area, and they’re making their case to land them.

Today is the deadline for federal agencies to submit plans to relocate from the D.C. area, and hoo boy are states eager to get in on the action.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

D.C. needs housing. Why has it taken 25 years to build on this parking lot? Neighborhood opposition has stalled plans to build homes on a Metro parking lot in Takoma, echoing problems in other communities where density is a concern.

Great reporting here from @aaronwiener.bsky.social on the quarter-century fight to build multifamily housing on a Metro station parking lot in Takoma. You will not find a better example of systemic dysfunction: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The tallest building in Virginia will be... a vulcanization tower at a submarine power cable manufacturing facility in Chesapeake.
www.bizjournals.com/richmond/inn...

The first—and biggest—building on the new list is the Frank Hagel Federal Building in Richmond, California.

But the GSA already put that building up for disposal in 2023, under Biden.

After initially posting a huge list of 443 properties eligible for potential sale—and then taking it down—the administration now seems to be opting for a slow, careful rollout of some of the easiest properties to shed.

Assets identified for accelerated disposition Learn about our lease cost avoidance plan and its successes.

The Trump administration just posted a new list of eight federal properties it's seeking to sell under "accelerated disposition."

But at least some of them were already slated for disposal pre-Trump.

www.gsa.gov/real-estate/...

Scores of child-care centers at risk after Trump officials gut federal office The General Services Administration has eliminated its office overseeing child-care centers and stopped providing accreditation to centers in federal buildings.

Just as all federal employees have been ordered back to the office five days a week, the Trump administration has closed a federal office that oversees child care centers in federal buildings and fired most of the staff www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

“We’re going to have less accreditation, less standards to follow, potentially lower quality and higher tuition costs. I think it’s an assault on people with small children being able to work.”
- A longtime member of the board of directors of a GSA-overseen child-care center

Scores of child-care centers at risk after Trump officials gut federal office The General Services Administration has eliminated its office overseeing child-care centers and stopped providing accreditation to centers in federal buildings.

The Trump administration's push to sell federal buildings could put even more child care centers at risk. Half of all the GSA-overseen centers across the country are in buildings the administration has targeted for potential sale. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Scores of child-care centers at risk after Trump officials gut federal office The General Services Administration has eliminated its office overseeing child-care centers and stopped providing accreditation to centers in federal buildings.

The move, unannounced and previously unreported, puts scores of child care centers across the country at risk of less oversight, loss of accreditation, higher costs, and possible closure www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Scores of child-care centers at risk after Trump officials gut federal office The General Services Administration has eliminated its office overseeing child-care centers and stopped providing accreditation to centers in federal buildings.

The Trump administration has quietly eliminated the GSA's child care office, responsible for overseeing child care centers in federal buildings, and fired nearly all its employees www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Federal workers split over return-to-office mandate. Some are job hunting. The poll’s findings come amid a rushed return-to-office push by the Trump administration, in conjunction with the firings of thousands of federal workers that are being challenged by several lawsuits.

Gift link for story! With @aaronwiener.bsky.social @sfcpoll.bsky.social wapo.st/4iQrzHT

Federal workers split over return-to-office mandate. Some are job hunting. The poll’s findings come amid a rushed return-to-office push by the Trump administration, in conjunction with the firings of thousands of federal workers that are being challenged by several lawsuits.

Among federal workers who say their jobs can be performed remotely, *85%* oppose Trump's return-to-office mandate, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll. And more than a quarter of them are actively looking for other jobs.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Federal workers told to report to faraway offices—with days’ notice Some government employees were told this week that they have until Monday to report to offices that in some cases are hundreds of miles away.

Some workers are packing bags and booking flights -- even though they think there's a chance they'll still get laid off after uprooting their lives to report to faraway offices.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Federal workers told to report to faraway offices—with days’ notice Some government employees were told this week that they have until Monday to report to offices that in some cases are hundreds of miles away.

Some federal workers have been informed in the past two days that under Trump's return-to-office mandate, they have until *Monday* to report to offices that in some cases are hundreds of miles away.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

New data from realtor.com suggests Trump administration actions are having an impact on the D.C.-area housing market.

Listings are up 56.2% from a year ago, while the median list price is down 1.6%.

Open letter regarding Trump Administration actions at the U.S. General Services Administration | PDF | General Services Administration | Government An open letter from former presidentially-appointed officials at GSA, including five former administrators.

5 former GSA administrators and many ex-officials have signed a letter expressing "concern that the Trump-Vance administration’s rash and misguided actions will reduce efficiency while putting taxpayer dollars, critical infrastructure, and personal information at risk"
www.scribd.com/document/838...

Are you a remote federal worker who's been informed that you have to start reporting to an office hundreds of miles away?

Please contact me -- I'd like to hear your story. Happy to keep your name out of anything I write.

I'm on Signal -- username: aaronwiener.37