WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Last December, after activists drew up a to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns.
But eight months after its first mention and after repeated promises it was being drafted, the so-called MAHA agenda is nowhere to be found. When asked for a status update this week, an EPA spokesperson said MAHA is an ongoing effort, not a single report.
The apparent reversal on release of a formal environmental health agenda is the latest in a for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement, who say they’ve lost faith that the Trump administration will take any significant action on pesticides, chemicals or other issues they view as key to address America’s chronic disease epidemic. It also reflects the EPA’s relentless rollback of environmental regulations even in the face of pressure from an important voting bloc that has supported President Donald Trump.
鈥淚 had really hoped that there would be specific steps that were taken through a MAHA agenda,鈥� said activist Kelly Ryerson, whose social media account 鈥淕lyphosate Girl鈥� focuses on nontoxic food systems. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had any of the wins that we were requesting.鈥�
Many in the diverse coalition of MAHA activists that Trump credits for helping him win back the White House say they plan to vote on issues over party in November’s congressional elections, raising the political stakes of their increasingly public tensions with the Republican administration.
鈥淧eople are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health,鈥� said Alexandra Mu帽oz, a molecular toxicologist who collaborates with activists on certain issues. 鈥淎nd I think that will have an important role in the midterms.鈥�
MAHA is frustrated with EPA’s actions
鈥淭rump鈥檚 EPA,鈥� as Zeldin frequently calls the agency, has vigorously pursued a deregulatory agenda. Earlier this year, Zeldin proposed overturning the that climate change is a threat to human health. He moved to in what he called 鈥渢he greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,鈥� froze billions of dollars for clean energy and .
Trump鈥檚 second-term EPA also has been working to , tailpipes and producers of oil and gas.
At the same time, Zeldin has touted multiple 鈥淢AHA wins,” some of which activists say are anything but. For example, he said the agency intends to regulate some chemicals called phthalates for environmental and workplace risks, but didn鈥檛 address the thousands of consumer products that contain the ingredients.
This week, the EPA diverted from past assurances that the MAHA report was in its 鈥渇inal stages,鈥� telling The Associated Press in an email that the EPA鈥檚 actions should speak for themselves.
鈥淭he notion that MAHA is a single document waiting to be unveiled fundamentally misrepresents how we operate,鈥� an agency spokesperson said, adding that work on MAHA priorities is 鈥渁ctive and expanding every day.鈥�
Ryerson and other MAHA activists said they’ve engaged with agency officials about changes they’d like to see, and occasionally succeeded. For example, her network of farmers worked with the administration on a recent executive order to advance regenerative agriculture. But she said EPA then used the order to justify new proposed uses for various herbicides, a move she called a 鈥渟lap in the face.鈥�
The same week, the Supreme Court dealt another blow to the MAHA cause in in a ruling related to its legal liability for alleged harm caused by its Roundup weedkiller. The Trump administration had backed the company in the case.
Environmental activists say the rise of Kennedy and his MAHA mission has rippled across the administration, raising the public’s awareness of pesticides 鈥� and expectations that Trump’s administration would act.
鈥淚f RFK and the MAHA movement hadn鈥檛 put that issue in the center of the public spotlight, no one would be scrutinizing this nearly as closely,” said Sarah Starman, a senior food and agriculture campaigner at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth.
EPA says getting microplastics out of drinking water is complicated
In a well-publicized gesture aimed in part at the MAHA movement, Zeldin in April included microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Activists had pressured Zeldin for months to crack down on microplastics and other environmental contaminants.
But in a reversal in late June, the EPA did not include microplastics or pharmaceuticals on a list of chemicals it plans to test for under a mandatory program used to collect information about concerning chemicals in drinking water that could be harming human health.
The move rendered the EPA’s earlier public health promises “functionally toothless,” said Betsy Southerland, a former senior official in EPA鈥檚 water office.
Zeldin said on social media that 鈥渢he technology to test and treat for microplastics in drinking water is still in development.鈥� The EPA said in a Federal Register notice that it was 鈥渘ot feasible to develop a drinking water analytical method within the statutory timeframe.鈥�
Southerland called the situation a 鈥渃lassic Zeldin bait-and-switch.鈥�
After making 鈥渁 big splash in the press鈥� on microplastics, “EPA has quietly stalled that momentum,” she said.
A White House released a few months into Trump鈥檚 second term, identified long-term exposure to environmental chemicals 鈥� including those widely found in plastics 鈥� as a leading cause of chronic disease in children.
Former industry lobbyists now have leading roles at EPA
Jeremy Symons, a senior adviser at the Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA employees and political appointees who are critical of the Trump administration, said Zeldin 鈥減ays lip service to MAHA, but sadly he is actually making Americans less safe from toxic chemicals.”
Alongside MAHA’s influence on the Trump administration, industry lobbyists have made inroads at the EPA.
Kyle Kunkler, a former lobbyist for the soybean industry, leads pesticide policy at the EPA. The agency , a weedkiller that has been linked to increased risk for some cancers.
Zen Honeycutt, a MAHA activist and founding executive director of Moms Across America, said the move is 鈥渨hat happens when the EPA allows itself to be pressured by corporations and by business.鈥�
EPA also employs other former industry insiders. Nancy Beck, a former executive at the chemical lobbying group the American Chemistry Council, is a top official in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Lynn Dekleva, another former chemistry council executive, serves as a Beck deputy.
The EPA said Kunkler and other political appointees have consulted with agency ethics officials to resolve any potential conflicts of interest. The MAHA movement has 鈥渄riven this agency’s work since President Trump’s first day in office,” a spokesperson said in an email, citing various initiatives including $945 million in grants to help states and communities cut 鈥渇orever chemicals鈥� known as PFAS in drinking water and identifying 30 drinking water contaminants proposed for nationwide monitoring.
But for Ryerson and others, the lack of a promised MAHA agenda reads as a tactic to escape accountability.
鈥淚t absolves them of any failures, especially when it comes to midterms,鈥� Ryerson said. 鈥淭hey won鈥檛 have to point to some list that they haven鈥檛 been able to achieve really anything on.鈥�
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