Latest news with #Auchincloss
Politico
6 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Auchincloss challenges the status quo
PARTY CRASHERS — Last year's election results and recent polling show Democrats desperately need a rebrand if they want to win. Rep. Jake Auchincloss is leading a new initiative to do just that heading into the 2026 midterms. 'The Democratic Party needs new leaders and big ideas,' Auchincloss told Playbook in a recent interview. 'We need a box of fresh crayons.' Enter Majority Democrats, a coalition of federal, state and local Democrats, most of whom have won in competitive purple or red seats. The group, which The New York Times first reported on late last week, includes members of Congress, as well as mayors, governors and state legislators. The roughly 30 members tend to lean toward the center — members include Democratic Reps. Angie Craig (Minn), Pat Ryan (N.Y.), Joe Neguse (Colo.), Jared Golden (Maine) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.). But Auchincloss insists membership isn't based on ideology. 'I use that term 'box of fresh crayons' deliberately — like a lot of different stripes of political belief, but a shared belief that we need much more vigorous debate about ideas, and we need much more appetite to challenge the status quo because the status quo is putting this party on a trajectory to a permanent minority in this country,' Auchincloss said. No other Massachusetts electeds are in on the effort yet, but Auchincloss pointed to Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, whose work to change the city's zoning parameters to make it easier to build more multifamily housing Auchincloss recently referenced in an op-ed, as an example of someone he'd want to see 'in that box of crayons.' In addition to pushing a policy platform (conversations about what will be in that are still ongoing), Majority Democrats plan to start hosting rallies and other in-person events this summer. It'll also have an associated PAC and super PAC to provide support for Democratic candidates. What Auchincloss wants to see is a 'hard cider and log cabin campaign,' he said — in other words, authentic and organic exchanges with voters. 'The core problem that Democrats have right now is that we're viewed as condescending,' he said. 'Until we overcome that core challenge, until voters believe that we're not condescending to them, but rather enlisting them into a cause bigger than themselves, we're never going to be able to reach the average voter effectively.' GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. There are plenty of takes on what Democrats need to do to move forward, and Rep. Seth Moulton will offer his own at a New England Council breakfast this morning. According to his office, Moulton will talk about how Democrats can win back an electorate that's lost faith in elected officials by reminding them that the government's job is to protect them and give them a chance to succeed. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and first lady Joanna Lydgate attend a Female Sports Rebellion reception at 7 p.m. in Boston. Sen. Ed Markey endorses Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at a press conference at 11 a.m. in Jamaica Plain. Rep. Stephen Lynch visits the picket line to support the striking Republic Teamsters at 10 a.m. in Roxbury. Rep. Seth Moulton speaks at the New England Council's 'Capitol Hill Report' breakfast at 10 a.m. in Boston. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@ DATELINE BEACON HILL CABINET CHANGE-UP — Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh is stepping down from leading the massive secretariat, the governor's office announced Friday. Undersecretary Kiame Mahaniah will replace Walsh, starting on a permanent basis today. More from the Boston Globe. EYES ON 2026 NOT A NO — There's nothing like a call to end the status quo to fuel the speculation about a possible Senate bid. Rep. Jake Auchincloss reiterated that he's running for reelection to Congress when asked about a potential challenge to Sen. Ed Markey during an interview on WCVB's 'On the Record' Sunday. FWIW, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III deployed the same dodge back in 2019. FROM THE HUB — Boston City Councilors, Secretary of State urge company to resolve trash strike by Matthew Medsgar, Boston Herald: 'The Secretary of State and several members of the Boston City Council are calling on waste management giant Republic Services to go back to the negotiating table and end a nearly two-week sanitation worker strike affecting more than a dozen Bay State communities. According to Secretary of State Bill Galvin, the ongoing dispute between the company and more than 450 striking members of Teamsters Local 25 should have been resolved already. Galvin blamed the delay on the trash company.' — BPS not planning to lay off staff impacted by federal funding freeze, superintendent says by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: 'With federal grant funding in limbo, BPS officials say they are not currently planning to cut staff whose programs rely on those grants. 'Right now, the funding is indicating from the federal government a delay,' Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a meeting with the Boston School Committee. 'I want to emphasize a couple things. One is that we do not believe that there'll be an impact to any BPS employees for the coming school year, 2025-26, or for any of the current BPS summer programming.' The BPS news comes days after the Trump administration announced it would withhold $6 billion in congressionally approved education funding nationwide until further review.' — Boston Convention Center renamed to honor former Mayor Tom Menino by Mike Toole and Paul Burton, CBS Boston. MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS — Testimony of key witness in 2024 murder of mother and child in limbo after ICE arrest by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: 'The testimony of a key witness in the double murder of 11-year-old Zella Nuñez and her mother, Chasity, is in limbo following her arrest on a decade-old deportation order by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The mother of Dejan Belnavis, one of two men accused of gunning the Nuñezes down inside a parked SUV in daylight in March 2024, was recently taken into custody by ICE on a 2011 deportation warrant, court records show.' PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES IN THE ZONE — Today's the deadline for several cities and towns to come into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, and while most have approved new zoning plans, 14 municipalities have yet to do so, per MassLive's Tréa Lavery. DAY IN COURT — An attorney work stoppage in Massachusetts has crippled courts by Sean Cotter, The Boston Globe: 'In courtrooms last week, lawyers were forced to do some quick math with high stakes. The public defenders in Lowell District Court already had a heavy caseload but used two of their remaining slots for the most serious cases: one man accused of child rape, and another charged with gun offenses and domestic violence. If the public defenders had not done so, Judge John Coffey may have been forced to release them rather than keep them in jail — a new crisis facing judges in Suffolk and Middlesex counties amid an ongoing work stoppage by court-appointed private attorneys. It's a conundrum arising from a system that is unique to Massachusetts and a handful of other states and that is at the mercy of the state Legislature.' — Nantucket reaches $10.5 million settlement with GE Vernova over Vineyard Wind blade failure by Jason Graziadei, Nantucket Current: 'GE Vernova will pay the town of Nantucket and island businesses $10.5 million as part of a settlement related to the offshore wind turbine blade failure in July 2024 at the Vineyard Wind farm. The town announced the settlement Friday morning with GE Vernova, the manufacturer of the Haliade-X turbine that failed, nearly one year since the 300-foot-long blade collapsed 15 miles southwest of the island, littering Nantucket beaches with debris and scattering fiberglass and foam around the region. Under the agreement, Nantucket will establish a 'Community Claims Fund' to provide compensation for economic harm caused by the blade failure. Nantucket will engage an independent third-party administrator to evaluate claims from local businesses and issue payments.' — ATF won't return banned trigger devices to gun owners by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: 'Federal officials won't be returning thousands of previously seized machine gun conversion kits to gun owners in Massachusetts and 15 other states that sued to block the Trump administration from 'redistributing' the devices. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Weapons said in a recent court filing that the devices, which allow semiautomatic weapons to be converted to fully automatic, will not be returned to individuals prohibited by law from possessing firearms or back to states that have already restricted the trigger 'reset' devices.' MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS — Cannabis social equity training program back on after a year-long pause by Bhaamati Borkhetaria, CommonWealth Beacon: 'The Cannabis Control Commission's social equity program – which has been on pause for a year due to budget constraints – is back on track for the fall. Last year, the commission accepted 229 individuals into the cannabis industry training program for individuals most impacted by the war on drugs, but said that the agency didn't have funding from the Legislature to operate the program as promised. ... Now, with pressure from advocates to get the program restarted, CCC leadership says it is now kicking off on September 8 with the current round of applicants and will accept more applicants starting August 1.' FROM THE 413 — Council President Salem Derby to take the helm as Easthampton mayor by Sam Ferland, Daily Hampshire Gazette: 'With an election looming on Nov. 4, City Council President Salem Derby has accepted the role as interim mayor. … According to the city charter, if a vacancy in the office of mayor occurs in the last nine months of a term, the president of the City Council shall become the mayor. Derby will take office effective July 16, after Mayor Nicole LaChapelle announced she would resign from office effective July 15, after accepting a position as the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).' — Speakers deride current system of government, see need for mayor in Amherst by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: 'Several residents concerned with Amherst's government, featuring an elected 13-member Town Council and an appointed town manager, are asking the Charter Review Committee to recommend revisions to the town charter that might include adding a mayor as part of enhanced checks and balances.' — EMS is not classified as an essential service in Massachusetts. State Rep. Leigh Davis wants to change that by Talia Lissauer, The Berkshire Eagle. THE LOCAL ANGLE — Worcester's annual Latin American Festival canceled this year by Sam Turken, GBH News: 'Worcester's annual Latin American Festival, a summer tradition for more than three decades, has been canceled this year. The August event on the Worcester Common typically attracts thousands of people for a celebration of Latin cuisine, music and dancing. In a statement, the local nonprofit CENTRO — which hosts the festival — said it decided to call off this year's gathering 'after careful consideration of factors beyond our control.'' — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell announces austerity measures, punches back at Council by Colin Hogan, The New Bedford Light: 'Mayor Jon Mitchell announced a new round of austerity measures on Friday in response to recent City Council budget cuts. They will include a city-wide hiring freeze — excluding emergency departments like police and fire — and closing the Casa de Saudade library branch in the South End.' — How a pause in federal education grants will impact Chelsea public schools by Stephanie Brown and Sharon Brody, WBUR. — Protesters outraged as they call for justice for man who died at hands of police in Haverhill by Jonah Frangiosa, The Eagle-Tribune. — North Attleboro's Mark Gould named new Norton town manager by Madison Dunphy, The Sun Chronicle. — Worcester Mayor says Trump fund freeze could cost 20 school jobs by Adam Bass, MassLive. HEARD 'ROUND THE BUBBLAH IN MEMORIAM — David Gergen, a Harvard Kennedy School fixture and a longtime White House political advisor who served four presidents, died Thursday. He was 83. More from the NYT. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Rick Jakious of Rep. Seth Moulton's office, former state Attorney General Martha Coakley, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Erin Olivieri, Zach Crowley, Laurily Epstein, Nate Bermel, Georgia Katsoulomitis, executive director at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and David Emil Reich. Happy belated to state Rep. John Moran, who celebrated Saturday.
The Herald Scotland
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Simon Henry to join BP amid talk it could face takeover bid
Shell cut its exposure to the North Sea during Mr Henry's term of office and cut hundreds of UK jobs. His appointment to the BP board comes as the company faces a battle to retain the support of investors amid talk it could attract a takeover bid. Chief executive Murray Auchincloss is under pressure to increase the returns BP generates on investment and to improve the performance of its share price. Mr Auchincloss decided to refocus BP on the oil and gas business after his predecessor Bernard Looney led the company on a costly growth push in the renewables business. READ MORE: As Chevron closes Aberdeen office, what now for North Sea jobs? Mr Henry is likely to be supportive of Mr Auchincloss's strategy but may press him to make changes he thinks could maximise the performance of the oil and gas business. BP has significant interests in the UK North Sea. Mr Henry was CFO of Shell from 2008 to 2017. In 2017 Shell sold a $3.8bn UK North Sea portfolio to Chrysaor after deciding to focus investment on its most profitable UK assets. The company closed its long-established finance office in Glasgow in 2016 with the loss of 380 jobs. Mr Henry went on to become a director of the Harbour Energy business that developed out of Chrysaor. READ MORE: Scale of SNP Government climate change failings underlined by experts Harbour has been a vocal critic of the North Sea windfall tax and recently announced plans to shed 250 jobs in Aberdeen after cutting 350 UK posts in 2023. On Monday Harbour said Mr Henry had stepped down from its board to pursue other opportunities. Shell has been touted as a likely buyer for BP. However, the company said last month that it had not been actively considering making an offer for BP. BP has sold a range of North Sea assets in recent years. In January the group announced plans to cut 4,700 staff jobs globally and 3,000 contractor roles without specifying where. READ MORE: Israeli-owned firm takes control of UK's biggest gas field Mr Henry's appointment comes amid an ongoing process of boardroom change at BP. The company is recruiting for a successor for chairman Helge Lund, who said in April that he planned to step down. In recent months BP has appointed US oil and gas industry veteran Dave Hager and City grandee Ian Tyler to its board. Pamela Daley stepped down from the BP board on Monday for personal reasons. Mr Henry was on the Lloyds Banking Group board from 2014 to 2020.
Boston Globe
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Locked shampoo and woke politics: Will Auchincloss take on Markey?
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up It's all shadowboxing right now. Auchincloss, 37, has said he is running for reelection. Still, when asked in the spring if he might challenge Markey, Advertisement Representative Jake Auchincloss joined protesters on June 1 outside of Milford Town Hall a day after 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva was detained by ICE. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Like Markey, Auchincloss is up for reelection in 2026. So he would have to give up his House seat to run a primary race against Markey. That didn't work out for his predecessor, Joe Kennedy III, who challenged Markey in 2020 and lost that election, along with his seat in Congress. But that was a different time, when Markey's wokeness, best illustrated by the endorsement he received from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, was a cherished prize. Advertisement Today, Democrats are trying to negotiate the new, furiously unwoke world of MAGA, in which a deportation center for undocumented immigrants is located in the Florida Everglades, the better to watch would-be escapees try to evade hungry alligators. In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey is kicking migrants out of hotel shelters and Auchincloss is expressing concerns about 'degradations to public order,' such as drug use, loitering, panhandling, encampments, vandalism, and shoplifting that could 'compound into lawlessness.' In MAGA world, both Markey and Auchincloss would be considered soft on 'degradations to public order.' Auchincloss didn't get into such nuance in his blog post. He just talked about how Democrats get less popular 'every time a customer has to ask the CVS clerk to unlock the shampoo.' Markey, meanwhile, shows no signs of running from the progressive label. Last month, Advertisement Message to fellow Democrats: As long as Markey is upright, he's running. When it comes to progressive cred, the biggest endorsement that Markey could get would still come from AOC. Will he get another nod from her? Her press office did not respond to a question about that. If Representative Ayanna Pressley, a member of the House progressive 'squad' that includes AOC, got into the race, that could influence the calculation. From the Markey camp comes word that he and Ocasio-Cortez continue to have a close relationship and are collaborating on a wide range of legislation. At the right time, there is reason to believe there would be 'a celebration of that partnership,' a Markey source said. AOC's most recent endorsement went to Mamdani. In giving him her blessing, she Across the country, including in Massachusetts, Democrats are adjusting to the MAGA era. Shortly after last November's election, Representative Seth Moulton, who represents Massachusetts' Sixth District and who is also mentioned by political insiders as a possible Markey challenger, worried out loud about the safety of his children if they must compete against transgender athletes. Given the shifting political ground, is an endorsement from AOC as valuable to Markey in 2026 as it was in 2020? Or does he risk looking too woke? To put it another way — is running against locked-up shampoo a winning strategy for Auchincloss? Advertisement Something to chew on, along with your Fourth of July hotdog. Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Two Mass. military vets in Congress break from Democratic consensus of outrage over Trump's Iran strike
'I think the world is safer after these strikes than before, but it's also more complicated,' Auchincloss Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In an interview with the Globe, Auchincloss stood by that assessment, and acknowledged he is in a different place from Democrats who believe that a strike should not have happened. He lamented the lack of any congressional input which made the process worse, but said that if Trump had presented the military plan to Congress, backed up with a clear plan for a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear threat, he would've voted for it. Advertisement Moulton, the Salem Democrat, reserved judgment in the wake of the attacks. 'One of the reasons I was reticent to just immediately condemn the strikes is because anything that gets us back to the negotiating table is helpful — that's where we need to be at the end of the day,' he told the Globe. (Trump said on Wednesday that the US and Iranian sides would talk directly next week.) Advertisement Congressman Seth Moulton speaks during a town hall event at Tewksbury High School on June 16, 2025, in Tewksbury. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Asked if he would have voted for the strikes had Trump sought congressional approval, Moulton said, 'I would not; I can't say why.' (The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over nuclear arms control, Moulton said he met privately with General Michael Kurilla, the head of the US Central Command, before the strike on Iran.) But Moulton said that one of the lessons he learned from serving in Iraq was 'you should not rush to judgment before you have all the facts… sometimes, something that looks bad turns out to be helpful at the end of the day.' That Auchincloss and Moulton have offered distinct interpretations of the Iran strikes is not especially surprising. Both are generally more pro-Israel than their Democratic colleagues — particularly Auchincloss — and more vocal on the urgency of blocking Iran's path to a nuclear weapon. Both have also been willing to use the phrase 'regime change,' which is politically toxic in many corners following Iraq and Afghanistan. Auchincloss said he did it as a way to 'purposefully poke the bear a little bit and force a conversation' about the role America could play helping Iranians toward self-determination without using force. Moulton also spoke about the desire to see the regime in Tehran gone and advanced that idea in a Wednesday interview, but worried that the strikes might have galvanized support for the Islamist government after speaking with an Iranian-American contact in Boston. Advertisement Still, both Democrats are far from uniformly supportive of any of Trump's other moves on the world stage. Both have been critical of the administration's handling of a number of foreign policy issues on substance and on execution. Asked about the potential difficulty of balancing openness to more aggressive action on Iran with deep opposition to the way Trump handles military and foreign affairs, Auchincloss said, 'everything in Washington is harder with this 'very stable genius' that we're dealing with.' Most Democrats, meanwhile, responded with apprehension and alarm over virtually every aspect of the strikes. Senator Elizabeth Warren summed up the feelings of many in a This divergence in Democrats' reactions to the strikes reflects the party's broader challenges to find a united front not just on their stance on this particularly thorny geopolitical issue, but on Trump in general. Matters could get more complicated as the initial shock of the attack wears off. While fears of a wider war including the US have not materialized—with Trump taking credit for brokering a ceasefire between Iran and Israel that has held—it's still unclear how effective the strikes were. A leaked US intelligence assessment found that the strikes did not obliterate Iran's nuclear program, as the Trump administration has repeatedly suggested. Advertisement Some top party leaders, however, have long navigated a similar balancing act of concerns between Israel, Iran, and Trump, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, a longtime Iran hawk and supporter of Israel. (Schumer has refrained from commenting on the strikes themselves, instead focusing on criticizing Trump's rejection of congressional approval.) But in some ways, Democratic opinion on the issue is narrower and more muted compared to the internal division on display when President Obama pushed to enact the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. A number of Democratic lawmakers opposed the deal—a signature initiative of their own president—when it came to a vote in Congress, fearing it would make Israel less safe. There is far more unity on these questions now than a decade ago, said Ned Price, a former State Department spokesman under President Biden and a National Security Council aide under Obama. 'To the extent there is a lack of consensus' right now, said Price, 'it is on tactics rather than strategy.' 'Yes, there are a couple of outliers—we are a big tent, especially on matters of war and peace,' he continued. 'Not everyone is going to be singing from the same sheet music.' Looking ahead, Auchincloss argued it's too early to say whether the strikes are a success 'because as it stands right now, there is an opportunity, but not a victory.' The opportunity, he said, is for the US to push 'coercive diplomacy,' pushing for a new agreement like the 2015 nuclear deal while also getting tougher on Iran's funding of terrorism through proxy organizations. That's where he and Moulton are in lockstep with the entire Democratic caucus. 'The only way to ensure long-term that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon is through a diplomatic deal that allows intrusive inspections,' Moulton said. Advertisement The fact that both Auchincloss and Moulton served in wars in the Middle East doesn't entirely explain their views, but it did impart them with lessons. 'I wanted a clear mission as a Lieutenant. I did not want a garbled chain of command, but that wasn't the problem,' Auchincloss said of his time in Afghanistan in 2012. 'The problem was the mission, and Congress needed to help, and we should help now.' Moulton offered a different point. 'I can't tell you how many times I've been surprised in the Middle East,' he said, 'when something we expect to be good turns out to be bad, and something we expect to be bad turns out to be good.' Sam Brodey can be reached at
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BP Targets $20B in Divestments by 2027, Eyes Castrol Sale Amid Restructuring
BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) is one of the . Murray Auchincloss, the CEO of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), reaffirmed his belief on June 12 that the company will accomplish its $20 billion disposal goal, with a number of acquisitions anticipated to be disclosed 'relatively soon.' As part of a larger $20 billion divestment plan by 2027, BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has started selling its Castrol lubricants division with the goal of raising up to $10 billion. In response to growing investor pressure, the British energy company is making efforts to reallocate cash, lower debt, and boost shareholder returns. The transaction comes after prior rumors that Saudi Aramco had been considering about making a bid. BP acknowledged that it had inked agreements for $1.5 billion in divestitures so far and is still looking into selling other assets, including its Gelsenkirchen refinery and a stake in the solar energy company Lightsource bp. In a virtual meeting with RBC, Auchincloss mentioned flexibility in a number of areas, including about $500 million in exploration, $1 billion in major unsanctioned projects, and potential changes in the U.S. onshore sector, where current spending is about $2.4 billion a year. BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) is an integrated oil and gas firm offers carbon-related goods and services. Its operations are separated into three segments: Customers and Products, Oil Production and Operations, and Gas and Low Carbon Energy. While we acknowledge the potential of BP as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. Read More: and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
