Make America Healthy Again advocates have grown increasingly concerned their emissary to the White House, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is falling short — even as he prepares to release a roadmap for how to improve the nation’s health outcomes.
MAHA advocates are frustrated Kennedy, as health secretary, has done little to hold vaccine makers accountable in instances when patients experience adverse reactions and that he hasn’t pushed harder to restrict or ban pesticide use. Some of them are threatening to primary Republicans in the midterms if they don’t get the commitments they want.
They’re eagerly awaiting Kennedy’s new report, which is due Tuesday and is expected to widely impact the food, farm and pharmaceutical industries. The document comes from the MAHA Commission, which Kennedy chairs, and will outline the Trump administration’s priorities for policy to overhaul the food supply and address the chronic disease crisis.
But the White House has already stepped in to soften the blow of how far the policy recommendations would go, reassuring agriculture industry groups that there would be no surprise regulatory announcements on pesticides and would not venture beyond what Kennedy already promised to do on food. Kennedy and Trump administration officials haven’t publicly indicated whether the report would explicitly call for curtailing vaccines, especially for children, much to MAHA proponents’ dismay.
“This MAHA report could turn the tide to tackle chronic [disease] in America and beyond,” said Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, which advocates for banning environmental toxins. “It’s crucial that our elected officials in this administration have the courage to stand up against the chemical corporations which are trying to corrupt democracy.”
The battle over Kennedy’s health agenda could split the uneasy alliance President Donald Trump knit together on the campaign trail between MAHA acolytes and traditionally Republican farm groups, who’ve recently felt alienated. Rifts over pesticides and vaccines could have long-term implications beyond the MAHA report, with several advocates expressing fears that Kennedy’s movement is being steamrolled in other ways by congressional Republicans.
“They’re furious,” said a person who works closely with MAHA groups and was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai didn’t acknowledge concerns among MAHA advocates.
“President Trump’s pledge to Make America Healthy Again launched a nationwide movement that has brought together stakeholders across American society – from parents to food companies to farmers – to remove artificial ingredients from our food supply and deploy Gold Standard Science to finally address our chronic disease epidemic,” he wrote in a statement.
An HHS spokesperson also shrugged off fears that the report could fall short of the movement’s expectations.
“Secretary Kennedy is focused on his mission to Make America Healthy Again, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” the spokesperson said. “We’re confident in the direction we’re taking on both vaccine oversight and environmental health.”
Agriculture industry lobbyists, who’ve spent the last few months in closed-door meetings with Trump administration officials, are counting on the White House to stand by its promise that the new report won’t introduce unexpected regulations.
“The White House has certainly gotten the message, both from agriculture and the food sector, that they are on the edge of a nanny state,” said one lobbyist who was granted anonymity to candidly share their thoughts. “Like this is Michelle Obama on steroids. The message we’ve gotten from the White House is, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not letting the crazy people run rampant over the food sector.’”
Bayer, which makes the commonly used pesticide Roundup, has spent more than $2.5 million in the last quarter lobbying administration officials and lawmakers on pesticide policy.
Lobbyists for major pharmaceutical companies told POLITICO the sector has shrugged off the potential for attacks in the final MAHA report, devoting their attention instead to Trump’s renewed threats to impose tariffs on drugmakers.
“You’re not going to change [Kennedy’s] opinion on anything,” said one lobbyist who was also granted anonymity to share details on the pharmaceutical industry’s approach. “You only lobby on things you can actually impact.”
David Mansdoerfer, an HHS official during the first Trump administration, applauded the way Kennedy is “walking the line” by pushing some policies that MAHA advocates favor while “not going so far” on others that could prompt wider blowback.
“There’s actually a lot of diversity of opinion in this crowd,” he said. “You’re never going to please all of them with any of these actions.”
What the new report will say is just one issue in a long list of fights MAHA world is undertaking.
MAHA moms, farmers and environmental advocates have lobbied against a provision in a federal spending bill that they say would shield pesticide makers from liability and limit the government’s ability to regulate pesticides. The proposed language, championed mainly by Republicans, parallels a nearly 40-year vaccine law, which limits the liability manufacturers face if patients experience an adverse reaction.
Meanwhile, many anti-vaccine activists have grown disillusioned with what they perceive as the limited impact of Kennedy’s movement. They’re frustrated by the Food and Drug Administration’s decision in July to approve Moderna’s Covid vaccine for high-risk children under 12 — and that the secretary hasn’t fully walked back CDC’s recommendation for healthy kids to get the shots, as he once promised.
Kennedy’s announcement this week pulling federal funding for nearly two dozen mRNA vaccine projects also wasn’t sufficient for activists who want the vaccines removed from the market entirely.
“‘mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits.’ So why is it still on the market?” Mary Talley Bowden, a MAHA world doctor who gained notoriety during the pandemic, posted on social media, quoting Kennedy’s announcement of the funding cancelation.
Those close to Kennedy have pushed him to publicly back legislative proposals that eliminate the vaccine makers’ shield, and to take executive action to shake up the federal court program that compensates people who claim vaccine injuries.
If things don’t go their way, advocates say they’re prepared to cause political problems.
An anti-vaccine group has warned Kennedy he “will face the electoral consequences” at the state and federal levels if he doesn’t crack down on mRNA vaccines. At least one MAHA-affiliated group has formed a new political advocacy arm, in part to primary Republicans who voted for the federal spending bill’s pesticide provision. Another MAHA influencer has urged her Instagram followers to call their representatives over the language.
“I have every intention of using all conservative influencers I’m in touch with to make sure those people are not re-elected, because it’s anti-American to be passing a liability shield,” said Kelly Ryerson, founder of American Regeneration and a supporter of stricter regulations on pesticides.
Both factions hope that Kennedy’s long history fighting the pesticide and drug industries — including winning a major lawsuit against Monsanto, previously the maker of Roundup — will ensure he doesn’t give way to K Street pressure, both on the legislative front and for the new report he’s expected to release.
For their part, farm-state Republicans who have defended pesticide use on behalf of farmers don’t seem phased by MAHA advocates’ anger.
“I’m not tired of winning yet and winning doing the right thing,” House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) said when asked in recent weeks if he was worried about how pesticides might play for the GOP in the midterms.
He added that he would welcome the chance to meet with Kennedy to discuss “how healthy American agriculture is.”
The Hill’s MAHA Caucus members — Kennedy allies who are tasked with coming up with legislative proposals based on the new report — have cautioned patience: “This stuff is not going to happen all overnight,” Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) previously told POLITICO.
At a press conference in March, the leader of the nonprofit advocacy group MAHA Action previewed the pesticide fight to come and expressed confidence about the group’s influence.
“This is a top issue for Robert Kennedy,” said Del Bigtree, then-CEO of the group and former communications director for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential bid. “We believe MAHA is now a voting body, and that pressure is also going to make a difference.”
Amanda Chu and Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.
