Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin pledged last December to release a formal agenda outlining the agency's "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) priorities, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns. However, eight months later, the agenda has not materialized, leading to frustration among activists who say the agency's actions contradict its stated goals.
An EPA spokesperson stated this week that MAHA is an ongoing effort, not a single report, a response that activists interpret as a shift from earlier assurances. This development adds to a series of disappointments for the MAHA movement, which has voiced concerns that the administration is not taking significant action on issues like pesticides and chemicals, which they believe contribute to the nation's chronic disease epidemic.
Activists like Kelly Ryerson, who focuses on nontoxic food systems, had hoped for concrete steps outlined in a MAHA agenda. "We haven’t had any of the wins that we were requesting," Ryerson said. Many in the MAHA coalition, which supported President Donald Trump's election, are indicating they may vote on issues rather than party lines in the upcoming congressional elections.
"People are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health," said Alexandra Muñoz, a molecular toxicologist. "And I think that will have an important role in the midterms."
The EPA under Administrator Zeldin has pursued a deregulatory agenda. Zeldin has proposed overturning the finding that climate change is a threat to human health and has worked to roll back numerous environmental regulations. The agency has also frozen funding for clean energy initiatives and altered agency research practices.
Simultaneously, Zeldin has highlighted various "MAHA wins." For example, he noted the agency's intention to regulate certain phthalates for environmental and workplace risks. However, activists point out that this does not address the thousands of consumer products containing these chemicals.
The EPA recently diverged from previous statements that the MAHA report was in its "final stages." An agency spokesperson told The Associated Press that the EPA's actions should speak for themselves, adding that "The notion that MAHA is a single document waiting to be unveiled fundamentally misrepresents how we operate." The spokesperson emphasized that work on MAHA priorities is "active and expanding every day."
Ryerson and other activists have engaged with agency officials and achieved some successes, such as a recent executive order on regenerative agriculture. However, Ryerson criticized the EPA for subsequently using the order to justify new proposed uses for herbicides, calling it a "slap in the face."
In another setback for the MAHA cause, the Supreme Court sided with pesticide maker Bayer in a ruling concerning its legal liability for alleged harm caused by its Roundup weedkiller, with the Trump administration having supported Bayer in the case.
The rise of the MAHA movement has increased public awareness of pesticide issues and heightened expectations for action from the administration, according to Sarah Starman, a food and agriculture campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
In April, Zeldin included microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants potentially subject to regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, a move seen as a gesture toward the MAHA movement. However, by late June, the EPA did not include these substances on a list of chemicals to be tested under a mandatory program for drinking water contaminants. Betsy Southerland, a former senior official in EPA’s water office, described this as a "classic Zeldin bait-and-switch," suggesting the agency had "quietly stalled that momentum."
Zeldin cited the developing technology for testing and treating microplastics in drinking water as a reason for the delay. The EPA stated in a Federal Register notice that developing an analytical method within the statutory timeframe was not feasible.
A White House MAHA Report released earlier in Trump's second term identified long-term exposure to environmental chemicals, including those in plastics, as a significant cause of chronic disease in children.
Jeremy Symons, a senior adviser at the Environmental Protection Network, commented that Zeldin "pays lip service to MAHA, but sadly he is actually making Americans less safe from toxic chemicals."
Industry lobbyists have also gained influence at the EPA. Kyle Kunkler, a former lobbyist for the soybean industry, now leads pesticide policy at the EPA. The agency recently permitted the continued use of dicamba, a weedkiller linked to increased cancer risks.
Zen Honeycutt, executive director of Moms Across America, attributed such decisions to corporate pressure on the EPA.
Nancy Beck, a former executive at the American Chemistry Council, holds a senior position in EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, with Lynn Dekleva, another former chemistry council executive, serving as her deputy.
The EPA stated that Kunkler and other political appointees have consulted with agency ethics officials to address potential conflicts of interest. The MAHA movement, the agency said, has "driven this agency's work since President Trump's first day in office," citing initiatives such as $945 million in grants for states to reduce PFAS in drinking water and the identification of 30 drinking water contaminants proposed for nationwide monitoring.
For activists like Ryerson, the absence of a formal MAHA agenda is perceived as a strategy to avoid accountability. "It absolves them of any failures, especially when it comes to midterms," Ryerson said. "They won’t have to point to some list that they haven’t been able to achieve really anything on."