A group of moms and wellness influencers, Some were asked to go to the White House this month, including Surgeon General candidate Casey Means. I expected a few staff members to listen to complaints about the health risks of herbicides.
Instead, it was a two-hour session in a “packed” room that included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and the president himself, according to Alex Clark, an influencer who was among the attendees and “bringing America back to health.”
“They just let us talk. They let us get everything off our chest,” said Clark, who hosts “Culture Apothecary,” a MAHA-themed podcast produced by Turning Point USA.
There was a lot to air for Clark and the “MAHA moms” in the room. Most concerning was the commonly used herbicide glyphosate, with calls for its use to be reduced and its safety investigated.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard: arguments in case The issue could decide a years-long battle over whether one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States is safe. The issue is seen as a test of how much power the “Make America Back to Health” movement actually holds in Washington.
A lawsuit against Bayer, the maker of Roundup, the brand name for glyphosate, will determine whether people can continue to sue the company over illnesses allegedly caused by its products.
But whatever the outcome, expected to be announced in June, the issue of pesticide restrictions has long animated the MAHA base.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the courthouse ahead of the arguments, where speakers rallied attendees to demand stronger protections for pesticides.
Dwayne “Lee” Johnson, a San Francisco school groundskeeper, was just 42 years old when he was diagnosed with terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2014. For years, he had been spraying the herbicide Roundup around the property he managed, but one day the sprayer he was using broke and was drenched in liquid. After that, rashes and spots began to appear all over his body.
In 2018, Johnson won a landmark $289 million settlement from Roundup maker Monsanto, which was found to be responsible for his diagnosis.
RFK Jr., then an environmental lawyer in California, was instrumental in his victory.
A subsequent court appeal reduced Johnson’s settlement to $20.4 million. However, this was the first verdict in one of many liability cases currently being brought against Bayer-owned Monsanto.
However, The company has since pledged to pay billions of dollars Bayer has maintained that Roundup is safe and that it is not linked to Roundup, including in a proposed $7.25 billion settlement in February that it is responsible for the health risks. Cancer has not been proven. The company noted that a review of the product and its label by the Environmental Protection Agency found no mention of cancer.
The case before the Supreme Court will determine whether Americans can sue further. Lawsuit against Bayer. The plaintiffs are led by a Missouri man who claims he developed cancer after regularly using the product.
“EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans, and the agency has repeatedly approved Roundup labels that do not contain cancer warnings,” U.S. Attorney D. John Sauer said in a brief filed with the court.
In court Monday, the justices appeared to be divided on how to resolve the case, posing tough questions to both sides. The legal debate centers not on whether glyphosate causes cancer, but rather on whether a 1972 federal law supersedes states’ ability to set their own product labels.
Bayer’s allies argue that the law is intended to prevent states from imposing their own labeling requirements, resulting in a patchwork of disparate rules, a point that Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a member of the court’s conservative wing, focused on in the closing minutes of arguments.
But conservative Chief Justice John Roberts questioned what role states might play as the EPA digs into its process for reviewing new information.
“If it turns out they were right, maybe they should have had an opportunity to do something while the federal government was going through the process to make people aware of this danger,” Roberts said.
After the arguments, a Bayer spokesperson said the ruling in Monsanto’s favor “brings essential regulatory clarity to the company.”
Kennedy, who is now Secretary of Health and Human Services, took the role in part on a promise to ban glyphosate and curb the use of pesticides.
But the Trump administration has since ordered increased domestic production of the chemical, walked back any suggestion it could be harmful, and abandoned its support for Bayer, arguing that it was up to the Environmental Protection Agency, not the courts, to make decisions. Pesticide safety and risks.
Position on glyphosate causes tension It’s a battle between traditional conservatives and MAHA voters, who they say provided crucial votes to ensure Trump’s 2024 victory.
Views on pesticides have also forged unusual, if tenuous, political alliances.
Speakers at Monday’s rally included Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, MAHA supporters and environmentalists.
Former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich told the audience that the case will determine “whether there is a fundamental right for states to protect the health and safety of their citizens and to give them access to due process at the state level.”
“If the Supreme Court rules to the contrary, it will shake the foundations of our country,” he added.
Speaking ahead of the rally, Sarah Sturman, a third-generation farmer and activist with the environmental group Friends of the Earth, pointed to the current contradictions.
“The Trump administration has gutted health and environmental protections,” she said. “But at the same time, the public momentum against pesticides, removing toxic chemicals from the environment, and supporting healthy food and agriculture is very strong.”
MAHA, midterm exams and miscalculations
The Oval Office meeting with MAHA moms was facilitated by Erika Kirk and MAHA allies in the administration, who believe it is important to maintain support for the movement ahead of the midterm elections, officials said.
“Mothers don’t want their children to be poisoned by pesticides that they can’t wash away their produce, they can’t run away from, and they’re breathing in pesticides in the air. That’s what’s important to them,” Clark, the podcast influencer, told CNN. “And no one will vote, no one will rally, no one will come to the polls, or they won’t come to the polls if they’re angry like my mom. This is number one group that you don’t want to offend, that you don’t want to lose on your side.”
Some advocates warn that’s already happening. In addition to President Trump’s order to increase chemical production, last August’s government report on chronic disease in the United States retracted President Kennedy’s earlier statements about the alleged harms of pesticides. Congress is also fighting over legislation that would effectively shield pesticide manufacturers from further liability, regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Throughout the debate, some agricultural groups have warned that any measures that limit pesticide use could leave crops vulnerable to weeds and pests and destabilize the U.S. food supply.
During budget hearings this month, Kennedy sought to defend both the president’s actions and his own beliefs, even as several members of Congress slammed him for his past pledges to regulate chemicals.
“I have made it clear to the president that I am personally displeased with the executive order,” he said Tuesday regarding the glyphosate production increase. “The president felt it was necessary for national security reasons,” he added.
When I asked him directly if the chemical caused cancer, he said, “Yes.”
In addition to the fight in the Supreme Court, the EPA is scheduled to release the results of a court-ordered review of glyphosate safety in October, weeks before the midterm elections. A provision in the House version of the farm bill would extend that deadline until 2031.
For MAHA activists, this is another in a series of battles they say will energize their voting base in November.
“Glyphosate is going to be a medium-term issue because the Trump administration made it an issue,” said Bani Hari, a food and wellness influencer known for her blog Food Babe.
“This is what we are aiming for, this is what we are thinking about. We have to make some meaningful change.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
