In quiet offices and crowded bars, people spoke in half-sentences, afraid to say too much, afraid to know too little. The order itself was only a few pages, but every word carried the weight of futures rearranged: budgets frozen, careers derailed, long-promised favors suddenly worthless. Washington would adapt, as it always does, but something essential had been exposed. For the first time in a long time, the capital remembered how vulnerable it is to a single, unanticipated choice.
