Another exit in the Healey cabinet while the governor avoids the White House

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Another outmigration trend is underway in Massachusetts: Gov. Maura Healey is about to lose her second Cabinet secretary this month and her eighth in just over three years as governor.

After Housing Secretary Ed Augustus leaves in a week, transitional appointees will make up a quarter of Healey's Cabinet -- Phil Eng is serving as interim transportation secretary and MBTA GM, Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw is serving as interim education secretary, and Deputy Secretary Jennifer Maddox will fill in as interim housing secretary until April 1, when former Rep. Juana Matias takes the job.

The only survivors among the group that got the Healey administration going in 2023 are Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, Technology Services and Security Secretary Jason Snyder and Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones.

Mike Kennealy, one of three Republicans competing for the chance to run against Healey in November, seized on the news of Augustus's departure for a banking job to hammer Healey's administration as "in disarray."

"If you want to understand the health of any organization, look at its turnover. When top-level executives are heading for the exits, it signals a massive lack of confidence in leadership and an awareness that the administration is headed in the wrong direction," Kennealy said.

Kennealy was in charge of housing (and economic development) for the second term of the Baker administration, but the former secretary did not mention that he was elevated into Baker's Cabinet because of the standard turnover most administrations contend with.

In fact, the News Service story on the change was headlined, "More Turnover In Baker Admin As Kennealy Poised To Succeed Ash."

Jay Ash was the second Baker Cabinet secretary to announce his exit in the weeks after Baker won reelection in 2018. As Kennealy ascended, Baker was also onboarding a new public safety secretary, looking for a new elder affairs chief and dealing with the departure of his MBTA general manager.

Breaking Friday morning, as Healey was in D.C. but skipping a White House meeting that became a flashpoint between President Donald Trump and governors, was the news that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariffs that Trump had imposed by executive order. The 6-3 ruling of the court declared that Trump had overstepped his powers.

"For a year now, President Trump’s tariffs have increased costs on every American and every business. His chaotic approach has caused instability in our economy, undermined business confidence, and weakened the United States’ standing on the world stage. So, while this is a welcome development, the damage has already been done," Healey said in a statement.

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There's mounting pressure from the left on Healey’s decision last week to launch an executive branch artificial intelligence tool powered by industry behemoth OpenAI.

Progressive Mass took issue with OpenAI's collaboration with federal immigration enforcement authorities and the way Healey locked the state into a contract with the company without first bargaining with state workers. The group is urging supporters to contact the governor's office to demand more information.

In a Substack post, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven echoed the group's complaints that the Healey administration has declined to release the state's contract with OpenAI and taking issue with the procurement process.

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I am not saying the state’s AI tool will share your data with ICE. The administration says state data will be protected. But we have not seen the data processing agreement, because Governor Healey’s administration won’t release the contract. We don’t know what protections actually exist for your health information, your address, your family’s data. And the company we’re asked to trust is the same company embedded in a federal enforcement infrastructure that is using health benefits data to target immigrant communities for deportation.

Erika Uyterhoeven

Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday, February 25, at the MCLE. Register!

Energy costs have been in the news a lot over the last year and a half as Bay Staters have been thwomped with skyrocketing bills, especially during what has so far been a historically cold winter. State government is working from a couple angles to force some relief for ratepayers, so it makes sense that Eversource got a little touchy this week about reporting on its corporate profits.

WCVB consumer watchdog Ben Simmoneau reported this week that the utility giant "is now reporting surging profits" and noted that the company posted earnings last week of $1.69 billion for 2025, more than double the $812 million profit reported in 2024. Others picked up on the story, often with headlines that mentioned "massive 2025 profits" or "skyrocketing profits."

It hit a nerve with Eversource, which said the increase from 2024 to 2025 appeared large because 2025's figures "are not reduced by significant one-time losses that occurred in prior years, lowering earnings in the past." The company said "2025 is simply a course correction after a few years of large business losses" and said its "earnings are not the result of a broad increase in customer bills, as some are claiming."

"Given the importance of focusing on affordability for our customers, it is imperative to correct misleading or inaccurate information in the public sphere. Stoking anger with misinformation will not lead to constructive discourse – and while convenient for some – we have a job to do every day for customers," Eversource Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Strategic Financial Planning Doug Horton said in a statement the company called a "fact check."

Eversource's statement claimed that reports that it doubled its earnings from 2024 to 2025 "are incorrect." But what the company probably meant is that the raw numbers don't tell the whole story, because the same statement included a chart reporting earnings of $811.7 million in 2024 and $1.69 billion in 2025, both following a loss of $442 million in 2023 and earnings of $1.4 billion in 2022.

Horton said Eversource's electric and natural gas systems have been "running seamlessly for customers even during the extreme conditions" this winter. He said the company's "2025 financial results made this possible" and were the result of about $46 billion of investment in things like poles, pipes, wires and other essentials.

"Earnings on investment are necessary to provide a return on that investment for the benefit of customers. As we complete infrastructure investments to modernize our systems and support safety and reliability across the three states we serve, the investment base grows each year and as would be expected, so does the return on that investment – this is to be expected and is a necessary part of our business to serve customers," he said.

While many Bay Staters are keeping their thermostats lower than they'd like to save some money, it's clear the heat has been turned up on the state's utilities and elected officials.

Senate Republicans this week tried to turn up the heat on the Healey administration's handling of the SNAP program amid a push by the Trump administration and Republicans to more closely scrutinize allegations of public benefits fraud. Senate Post Audit and Oversight Chairman Mark Montigny didn't agree to hold a hearing, as requested.

"While we cannot immediately react to a letter, this committee takes very seriously all allegations of fraud, waste and abuse of public resources as evidenced by our ongoing investigations and work examining procurement practices within MassDOT and the convention center as well as struggles within the unemployment system and runaway spending by utility companies," the New Bedford Democrat said.

Healey's office closed out the week with another personnel announcement: Starting Monday, Press Secretary Karissa Hand will no longer be the main point of contact for members of the media. She's being promoted after three years to the deputy communications director role, working alongside Communications Director Jillian Fennimore.

Jacqueline Manning, communications director at the Executive Office of Veterans Services for the last three years and a veteran House aide, starts Monday as Healey's new press secretary will be the new main contact, Healey's office said.

ICYMI

-Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook newsletter is ending after 10 years (Dan Kennedy)

-Retired judge: Feds must investigate DCF over treatment of disabled children (Globe)

-Rescue Eludes Eastham Couple Who Fell Through Ice at Bee’s River (Provincetown Independent)

-State reps. fear PCB find will slow $363M Springfield Water and Sewer project, add cost (MassLive)

-Boston to keep three MBTA bus routes free to ride through June, but long-term plan is unclear (GBH News)

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