Update: The National Park Service has granted the activists a permit to keep the liberty pole on the Mall through 6 p.m. on April 20. "This ensures that while they are exercising their First Amendment rights, they are doing so in accordance with the requirements for public gatherings within National Mall and Memorial Parks," wrote NPS spokesperson Mike Litterst in an email.

D.C. officials and activists for marijuana legalization launched a long-shot bid Wednesday to halt a federal budget deal that appeared poised to upend the city’s successful ballot measure last month to legalize the drug.