Healey says hands off after Kennedy takes on Dunkin’ calorie count

Maura Healey is running on Dunkin'.

The governor this week found herself in an unlikely culture, business and public health clash with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after he singled out Canton-based Dunkin' while calling on Americans to rethink their consumption of processed foods.

Healey responded the Massachusetts way: with an iced coffee cup.

On X, the governor posted a photo of a Dunkin' cup captioned "COME AND TAKE IT," linking to a report quoting Kennedy asking whether chains like Dunkin' could prove it's safe for "a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it."

"If I were health and human services secretary, I wouldn't be taking on Dunkin," Healey told reporters Wednesday, adding she would focus instead on measles.

Kennedy shot back online: "No one is taking away your Dunkin'. But isn't it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe?"

The spat landed squarely at the intersection of public health, politics and Massachusetts cultural identity, with Healey defending a hometown brand as Kennedy — who has Massachusetts roots — took aim at it from Washington.

Healey has made Dunkin' a part of her political persona, frequently appearing publicly (including at least twice this week) with the chain's signature cup in hand and, at times, sporting head-to-toe "DunkQueens" merchandise. It's a brand alignment that blurs the line between campaign prop and state identity, and one the governor leaned into again this week as the debate over sugary drinks bubbled up nationally.

It's also a curious moment for the governor, as the state is simultaneously scaling back state employee health coverage for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs amid skyrocketing costs. While Beacon Hill reins in coverage for medications to combat obesity, Healey is publicly defending the freedom to sip a large sugary iced coffee.

The politics cut multiple ways. Kennedy's push continues his agenda for Americans to cut back on processed foods, even as President Donald Trump (and many others) famously favors McDonald's — where the Coca-Cola sizes can dwarf anything poured into a Dunkin' iced cup.

For a party that frequently frames policy around freedom and choices, targeting sugary drinks could come across as an attempt to control Americans' diets although the secretary reminded that nothing was being taken away.

Healey, meanwhile, leaned into her loyalty to the company.

"Anyhow, go Dunks," she said.

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The coffee clash unfolded during a week when another of Beacon Hill's longest-running feuds — between the Legislature and Auditor Diana DiZoglio — also escalated.

A Supreme Judicial Court justice rejected DiZoglio's request for a special assistant attorney general to represent her in court as she tries to enforce a voter-approved law allowing audits of the House and Senate.

"The State Auditor cites no statute, constitutional provision, or other authority that would permit a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court to appoint a SAAG," Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt wrote.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell is representing House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka in the case, leaving the auditor arguing she's been effectively blocked from pursuing the lawsuit herself.

"Oh, the difference a judge can make," DiZoglio said, adding that "the court deck is stacked against the people right now."

The legal setback came the same day DiZoglio faced skeptical lawmakers during a contentious hearing on her latest transparency push — a ballot initiative that would apply the state's public records law to the Legislature and governor's office.

Senators and representatives peppered the auditor with questions about what kinds of documents would be released and who could gain access to them.

At one point, Sen. Cindy Friedman repeatedly banged her gavel to restore order as tensions flared.

"You are here to answer the question," Friedman told DiZoglio, urging her not to accuse lawmakers "through your words or your tone" of acting in bad faith.

DiZoglio, who argues the proposal is necessary to restore public trust, did not back down.

"Sorry, not sorry about my tone," she said. "You've already been on the record opposing this."

Senate Counsel James DiTullio wrote a letter to Campbell in August calling the measure an "intrusion" into the Legislature's constitutional power. Friedman and Sen. Ryan Fattman said they were not aware of the letter.

That deeper constitutional debate was again brought up in Tuesday's clash.

Friedman also argued that fully opening records could chill frank conversations among legislators.

"We are not hiding anything," she said. "We are not trying to go and do nefarious, nasty, bad things."

DiZoglio countered that the Constitution "is there to protect the people, not the politicians," and said disputes over the measure's legality would ultimately be settled in court.

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While Beacon Hill sparred over transparency, the state's highest court weighed another politically charged issue: housing.

Justices hearing arguments Wednesday in the Marshfield case appeared unconvinced that the MBTA Communities Act — a 2021 law requiring cities and towns near transit to allow multifamily housing — amounts to an unfunded mandate.

The town argued it incurred costs developing zoning plans to comply with the law, but several justices suggested those expenses were optional.

"I understand modeling may have been expensive, but you made a choice to sort of try to accomplish the statute that way, as opposed to another. And that seems to fall within our case law that it's not a mandate," Justice Scott Kafker told the town's attorney.

Like the legislative audit, the housing law has also become an election-year issue as some communities resist zoning changes and Republican candidates for governor promise to scrap the policy altogether.

Even before the court rules, the politics of 2026 are beginning to take shape.

Healey spent Thursday night campaigning in Attleboro, highlighting contrasts between herself and the president and delivering a message based on affordability.

In Lowell, Rep. Vanna Howard won a special Senate election to succeed Sen. Ed Kennedy, who died in October, maintaining a Democrat presence in one of the Merrimack Valley's most influential cities.

Meanwhile, a series of legislative races north of Boston are beginning to draw attention as candidates jockey for open seats and test early messages about housing, transparency and the cost of living.

Those economic anxieties were sharpened this week by global events far beyond Massachusetts.

A widening war involving the U.S., Israel and Iran is sending shockwaves through energy markets and raising concerns about supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global oil shipments.

Gas and oil prices quickly climbed. AAA Northeast reported the average price in Massachusetts reached $3.15 per gallon Friday, up 25 cents in a week, while crude oil posted its largest single-day increase in nearly six years.

The surge threatens to ripple through the state's economy, driving up transportation costs and squeezing household budgets just as the campaign season begins in earnest.

For Massachusetts voters, the issues of 2026 may stretch from zoning maps and transparency records to gas pumps and iced coffee cups.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Martha Sheridan, CEO and president of the city’s tourism bureau Meet Boston.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is House Speaker Ron Mariano.

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