MBTA boss Eng to step up his transpo game while Trump threatens Hub's World Cup games

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Known by some admirers as "Train Daddy Eng," Phil Eng is suddenly playing overtime for Team Massachusetts.

A longtime health care advocate also jumped on board the Healey administration this week, and a former revenue commissioner has joined the governor's new competitiveness council. Meanwhile, Massachusetts was thrown a new White House curveball as President Donald Trump threatened to yank FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from Foxborough, over issues he has with the city of Boston and a recent spate of street takeovers.

MassDOT on Wednesday announced plans to rebid the highway service plaza improvement contract after Irish retailer Applegreen backed out, and on Thursday MassDOT CEO and Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt resigned from her job. The bookends on Tibbits-Nutt's tenure were the service plaza debacle and her controversial comments last year in support of border tolls and seizing new transportation revenue. There was also heavy surtax-fueled investment in transportation and the T during her relatively short time as secretary.

Now arriving as interim transportation secretary: "Train Daddy Eng," who will continue to serve as general manager of the MBTA. It is unclear how long Eng, who's gained some popularity from successfully eliminating slow zones across the T, will have a two-track job.

Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, who's held the post for the longest stretch in MassDOT history, will also pull double-duty. Healey promoted him to undersecretary of transportation.

"What I made clear to my team this morning and MassDOT is I intend to stay just as engaged as I've been with MBTA," Eng told reporters. "And I know that doesn't sound feasible but it is, because, again, they know what they're doing."

Phil Eng meme (Reddit)

The State Police said their first weekend crackdown on illegal street takeovers culminated in 232 civil citations, 74 warnings, 20 criminal summons, seven arrests, 15 tows and one stolen car recovery. Healey and State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble announced the data two days after Trump suggested Massachusetts could forfeit its FIFA host status over public safety concerns, an idea that folks in power here waved off as pure political theater.

"I love the people of Boston. I know the games are sold out. But your mayor is not good," Trump said. "There are worse than her. At least she's intelligent. Some are extremely low IQ. Those bother me more. She's intelligent but she's radical left. And they're taking over parts of Boston."

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said there's "no ability to take away the World Cup games."

"There's no real threat when it comes to saying cities are so unsafe that they can't host the games," Wu said Wednesday on "Java with Jimmy."

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With Massachusetts on the verge of losing $650 million in state tax revenues this budget year over federal tax code changes, Administration and Finance Secretary Matt Gorzkowicz also played it cool for now. Despite a lot of handwringing over the economy and the feds, the secretary decided not to mark down state tax collection projections, an indication that he's comfortable with the current balance between spending and revenues.

In his revenue certification letter, Healey's budget chief noted this year's balancing act also depends on federal policy changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and "our ability to manage emerging spending pressures, particularly in the state health care space, including MassHealth and the Group Insurance Commission."

As if on cue, the House on Wednesday was occupied with the fiscal 2025 closeout budget and delivering another financial lifeline to the strained health care sector. The $2.25 billion spending bill includes $1.67 billion for MassHealth, $374 million for payments to former Steward Health Care hospitals, and $10 million to cover costs tied to hosting next year's World Cup games.

The big addition to the spending bill was a $50 million increase in state's hospital assessment. The idea behind that is to generate more revenue for the Health Safety Net Fund, which covers uninsured and underinsured patients. Senate President Karen Spilka said her branch plans to tackle the closeout budget next week, and complete gubernatorial veto overrides after the House voted last week to put $70 million back into the budget.

There's no current plan to address holes developing in the safety net with tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents at risk of losing some or all of their health insurance subsidies. Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over reopening the federal government, and within that debate over whether to extend enhanced premium tax credits. Health Connector members, including those on heavily subsidized plans, are starting to learn how much their premiums could rise in 2026 if the credits expire at the end of the year.

Insurance woes will likely be top of mind for Amy Rosenthal, executive director of Health Care For All, when she joins the governor's team next month as undersecretary of health. The nonprofit is focused on boosting access to affordable insurance coverage, and it secured $10 million in the House spending bill to launch a public awareness campaign about new Medicaid work requirements.

Healey also kind of added a former Baker administration official to her team. Mark Nunnelly, former revenue commissioner and the first secretary of the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, will co-chair the Governor's Advisory Council on Competitiveness that will explore ways to strengthen the state's "business climate and support growth in existing and emerging industries."

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Across the broader Team Massachusetts, some fighting and pent-up battles broke out this week.

Auditor Diana DiZoglio dared Attorney General Andrea Campbell to sue her Wednesday as the auditor and the Legislature continue a standoff following passage of a ballot law intended to let DiZoglio audit the Legislature.

Congressman Seth Moulton declared Wednesday that he's running against Sen. Ed Markey, and a crowded field is expected to emerge to seek the House seat that the Salem Democrat is giving up in his bid to move up.

"Our party has clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn't fighting hard enough," Moulton said. "The next generation will keep paying the cost if we don't change course."

With some Bay Staters reluctantly turning on their heat this week, Healey might be late to the game if she wants to mitigate steep utility bills this winter. The governor ordered the Department of Public Utilities on Tuesday to pore over gas and electric bill charges, identifying those that can be nixed or reduced "to avoid unnecessary spending and drive down costs."

There's no timeline to Healey's order, and she didn't directly answer whether her action affords regulators enough time to shave costs on winter heating bills.

"I think this is something they've got to get after right away," Healey said.

THE SUNDAY SHOWS

KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller's guest is Bill Kole, former New England AP Bureau chief. They discuss his book about the impact of evangelical Christians on preserving gun culture and blocking gun control reforms, “In Guns We Trust.”

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Congressman Seth Moulton, who has launched a run against Sen. Ed Markey.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Brian Shortsleeve, GOP candidate for governor.

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