RFK Jr. fought pesticides for years. Now he's backing their production

Now, as the nation's top health official, he fell in line with President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate's production and granting limited legal immunity to manufacturers if they follow federal directives.

Kennedy posted a statement on social media that called pesticides "toxic by design" but framed Trump's move as necessary for agricultural stability and national security. "I support President Trump's Executive Order to bring agricultural chemical production back to the United States and end our near-total reliance on adversarial nations," he wrote. 

It was a gesture of loyalty to the president who enabled Kennedy's overhaul of vaccine policy, but also opened a fault line in their political coalition.

As Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again supporters grow impatient with the Republican-led administration that's largely resisted their calls to regulate pesticides, they're speaking up.

"It's been a year. Not a single thing has been done by the EPA to reduce our children's and families exposure to pesticides," Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt, a prominent MAHA activist, replied to Kennedy's post. "We love you Bobby but this administration needs to keep their word."

Critics said the order is part of a pattern that favors pesticide manufacturers, who defend their products as reviewed by regulators to ensure they don't threaten human health if used properly.

A proposal from House Republicans would make it harder to sue pesticide companies for failing to warn about product dangers. The Justice Department in December backed Monsanto owner Bayer in a Supreme Court case that could limit its future liability for Roundup.

Kennedy pledges change

Trump's executive order is intended to protect domestic production of elemental phosphorus, which is used in military devices and glyphosate-based herbicides. It also seeks to protect the production of glyphosate-based herbicides, which the administration says are critical to agricultural supply chains.

Kennedy repeatedly said he believes glyphosate causes cancer. While several studies support his contention, the Environmental Protection Agency said the chemical is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed. Bayer said in a statement that it "stands behind the safety of our glyphosate-based products which have been tested extensively, approved by regulators and used around the globe for more than 50 years."

Kennedy said he is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA to expedite a future in which the food supply is not reliant on harmful chemicals. The Trump administration in December launched a $700 million regenerative pilot program aimed at helping farmers adopt practices that boost soil health, water quality and productivity.

Yet some longtime environmental advocates say they haven't yet seen compelling evidence of transformative change.

"If there is a big plan, a big MAHA-style plan to move in the direction of detoxifying agriculture from these chemicals, where is it?" said Ken Cook, head of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. "What I'm seeing here is a very aggressive effort to try and hang onto MAHA principles even as, at every turn, you betray them."

He said the language of Kennedy's post matched arguments from pesticide makers.

The EPA teased a forthcoming MAHA agenda that it says will address issues such as forever chemicals, plastic pollution, food quality, Superfund cleanups and lead pipes. EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch said it's "in the final stages" and will reaffirm the agency's commitment to science and transparency on pesticides.

MAHA support

Kennedy's MAHA coalition is seen as a politically important group for Republicans to win to keep their majorities in Congress in November's midterm elections.

But the movement doesn't always agree with Republican policies, putting Kennedy in a "tough spot," according to Matt Motta, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health.

The Kennedy-aligned political advocacy organization MAHA Action issued a memo aiming to address some of the movement's anger by fact-checking inaccurate claims about the executive order and urging the administration to take actions, including an independent EPA review of glyphosate's effects on health.

"We know many of you are angry. That anger is understandable, and we share the urgency behind it," it read. "We also know that this movement is most powerful when it is precise, factual, and strategic. Corporate media and political opponents would love nothing more than to see the MAHA coalition fracture. We will not give them that."