Top adviser to Kennedy resigns from Trump administration

Key Points:

• Calley Means, a senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and key advocate for the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, has resigned from the Trump administration citing frustration over limited progress on MAHA goals.
• Means was particularly disappointed by the stalled rollout of a federal definition of ultraprocessed foods and policy decisions like the Trump administration’s support for increased glyphosate supply and EPA rollbacks on mercury and PFAS regulations.
• The MAHA movement, which opposes corporate influence on food and healthcare, has faced setbacks including a Supreme Court ruling favoring Bayer in a cancer risk case for Roundup, and criticism over vaccine and pesticide policies.
• Despite frustrations, Means acknowledged some policy achievements during his tenure, such as restrictions on soda purchases via SNAP, advances in psychedelic research, voluntary dye phase-outs by food companies, and updates to federal dietary guidelines.
• Discontent within the MAHA movement has grown, with some supporters threatening to abstain from voting in the upcoming midterm elections, while Democrats attempt to engage the movement ahead of the vote.