The fight over the voter-approved legislative audit has officially left the realm of Beacon Hill squabbling and entered the courthouse. State Auditor Diana DiZoglio filed suit Friday in Suffolk Superior Court against Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, and their respective clerks, demanding they comply with the 2024 ballot measure that authorized her office to audit the Legislature. The same day, she went on Boston Public Radio and called on Mariano to resign outright — calling him an “authoritarian” and saying it’s time for him to “retire, resign, move on.”

This is a genuine constitutional showdown, and it matters beyond the personalities involved. Voters passed that audit question. The House responded this week by passing a bill that would dramatically narrow its scope — essentially defanging it before DiZoglio could use it. DiZoglio is now asking Governor Maura Healey to veto that bill if it reaches her desk. Healey hasn’t weighed in publicly yet, which is its own political calculation: does she side with voters, or with the legislative leadership her administration depends on to get things done?

Mariano’s office responded to DiZoglio’s resignation call with a request that she “tone down the rhetoric” — which is the kind of answer that tells you everything about how seriously they’re taking her. What happens next: the Senate still needs to act on the narrowing bill, and Healey will face real pressure from good-government advocates to veto it. The lawsuit adds a legal track that could outlast all of them.

Read, acquitted last year of killing her boyfriend John O’Keefe, filed a civil lawsuit Thursday against the Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police alleging “a culture of bias and corruption.” The suit includes newly revealed text messages between fired trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton Sgt. Sean Goode — messages described as disparaging toward women, racial minorities, Jewish people, and the LGBTQ community. Now, DA candidates are calling on Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey to resign over his unit’s connection to Proctor. This story is nowhere near over.

U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigration applications — including asylum, work permits, green cards, and citizenship — for people from 39 countries. The judge wrote that USCIS had thrown immigrants into “indeterminate legal limbo” using “pretextual” national security concerns that masked anti-immigrant bias. The ruling is the most sweeping legal setback yet for that policy, and Massachusetts advocates with clients caught in the freeze are celebrating — cautiously, pending an almost-certain appeal.

With a July 1 deadline looming, Massachusetts’ real estate industry is deeply divided over whether to accept a compromise that would introduce annual rent increase caps — and keep a far stricter rent control ballot measure off the November ballot. Developers and landlords have the money to fight it at the polls, but that’s a gamble: if the ballot measure passes, it could be one of the toughest in the country. The next few weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations could shape housing policy in Massachusetts for a generation.

The House voted 147-0 to allow Massachusetts bars to extend last call to 3 a.m. this summer, with local approval, running from June 8 through July 31. This is clearly timed to World Cup fever, and the Senate is expected to follow. Your town still has to opt in, so don’t start planning your 2:45 a.m. round just yet — check with your local licensing board.

New reporting reveals that Jing Sheng Dong — the driver whose bus crash on I-95 killed five Massachusetts residents last week — was cited by New Jersey State Police for failing to obey traffic signals just weeks before the fatal collision. That’s on top of speeding citations in Maryland and Virginia. Dong has held a commercial driver’s license only since 2024, and federal and state transportation officials are now publicly feuding over how he got it. Five families are grieving while regulators point fingers.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ordered the federal government to pay nearly $15,000 to the attorney of an Ecuadorean woman who was detained for months while ICE repeatedly misrepresented her situation in court — and denied her medication for serious health problems. It’s a small dollar figure but a pointed rebuke from a federal bench that has been keeping a close eye on immigration enforcement in Massachusetts.

World Cup Security at Boston Stadium (Foxboro) kicks into high gear this week — Foxboro Police Chief Michael Grace is urging fans to arrive well early for matches, warning that security screening alone could take over an hour; the stadium closes to non-ticket holders starting Tuesday, and you’ll need a match ticket just to board the Boston Stadium Train. WBZ/CBS Boston →

Storms tonight — If you have outdoor plans this evening, keep an eye on the sky: WCVB’s StormTeam 5 is tracking a round of thunderstorms with damaging wind potential from roughly 6 p.m. to midnight, primarily north and west of Route 128; the South Shore and Cape Cod face lower — but not zero — risk. WCVB →

The Senate still needs to act on the legislative audit bill — Watch for movement next week; if it passes and lands on Healey’s desk, the governor will face one of the most politically loaded veto decisions of her tenure.

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Gary Gagnon (Unenrolled) — Sheriff, Franklin County — Filed: 6/4/2026
• Jose Candelario Gonzalez (Unenrolled) — House, 5th Hampden — Filed: 6/4/2026
• Stephen Foley (Unenrolled) — House, 5th Norfolk — Filed: 6/4/2026
• Luisa Cestari (Republican) — House, 5th Middlesex — Filed: 6/4/2026
• Alexander (Al) Ozonoff (Libertarian) — Auditor — Filed: 6/2/2026
• John Foy (Unenrolled) — City Councilor, Boston — Filed: 6/2/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Safer Tech at LastTreeLaws.com — N/A, No office — Filed: 6/1/2026

OCPF →

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