[cafard]

Tech/startup work probably is going to have to do with government or electoral stuff. I can't tell you much about that end of things. You might want to look at meetup.com for technologies that interest you and have Washington meetings. The techiest stuff is probably out toward and beyond Dulles Airport, say Reston to Ashburn. Trust me when I say that you do not want to commute from Washington to Reston, let alone Ashburn.

I know techies who work for civil agencies (Federal Reserve), associations (AARP, American Chemical Society), labor unions, etc. The work is not HN-front-page stuff, but generally pays decently.

[bmelton]

There are quite a few opportunities in or around the DC area in cyber-security too. These will have the "perk" (for those who want it) of not being directly government work, but will often have government and government-adjacent entities as clients.

[beckingz]

Meetup.com is a great place to meet other technical people in the area!