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RFK Jr. Tells Farmers, GOP Not to Worry About His Report Targeting Pesticides
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought Tuesday to reassure farmers and one Republican senator about his upcoming report on how pesticides are driving up rates of childhood chronic diseases, acknowledging that chemicals like glyphosate that he has long criticized are widely used for growing crops in the U.S.
“I have said repeatedly throughout this process, that we cannot take any step that will put a single farmer in this country out of business,” Kennedy said at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “There’s a million farmers who rely on glyphosate. 100% of corn in this country relies on glyphosate. We are not going to do anything to jeopardize that business model.”
The White House in February tasked Kennedy with leading a “Make America Healthy Again Commission,” which is producing a report assessing the threat of a range of issues that might be causing disease in children.
New Report Reveals Dangerous US Policy Change That Could Threaten Children’s Health: ‘Allowing Infants in the Womb … To Be Damaged’
Internal sources at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have stated the Trump administration is canceling funds for grants analyzing the health impacts of forever chemicals on children. According to a report from The New York Times, cancellations are impacting pending and active grants, affecting tens of millions of dollars dedicated to toxic chemical research.
The New York Times reviewed an email sent by Dan Coogan, the EPA’s deputy assistant administrator, which revealed the funding cancellations. In the email, it was made apparent that staff were being instructed to eliminate funding for different grants, including the Science to Achieve Results program and the People, Prosperity and the Planet program.
While the email highlighted clear action steps to stop pending and active funds for certain grants, the EPA’s press office responded by saying the grants were not canceled and that “the agency’s review is ongoing,” per the Times.
Many of the pending and active grants targeted for cuts serve essential roles in understanding the health impact of toxic forever chemicals on children in rural America. Projects in these areas were looking at the effects of pesticide exposure and other agricultural pollution on young people.
RFK Jr’s MAHA Commission Report to Spotlight Toxins in Food
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again commission report is set to be released by May 22, gathering data on how toxins may be contributing to widespread diseases.
The report will offer a comprehensive look at how Americans have become sick from exposure to toxins in food, environment and pharmaceutical drugs, Vani Hari, a food activist who will be at the White House for the launch of the report, told USA TODAY.
For instance, it will highlight the toxin glyphosate.
A 2022 Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention study found that 87% of 650 children tested had herbicide glyphosate in their urine. The primary exposure to glyphosate, which is used in weed killers like Roundup, occurs through food.
“It is literally President Trump declaring war on the ultra-processed food and pesticide companies,” Hari said.
Vermont Officials Reevaluate New State Standards for Toxic Forever Chemicals as EPA Eases Stance
Vermont environmental officials are pausing to reevaluate a stricter state standard for certain harmful forever chemicals after a change in stance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this week.
Barely one year after the EPA passed historic rules to reduce the amounts of certain harmful forever chemicals in drinking water, the agency is now considering reversing some of those regulations and pushing back the timeline for drinking water systems to comply with others.
When the set of federal regulations passed under President Joe Biden, they set allowable levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, even lower than Vermont’s existing standards, which had been in place for five years. The stricter rules meant an additional 30 drinking water suppliers in the state needed to remove PFAS.
Now, the state’s progress on formalizing those rules is on something of a pause, as officials wait to hear more information about the federal decision.
Trump Administration Lays out More Details of Plan to Lower Drug Prices
The Trump administration shared on Tuesday the outlines of how it plans to push pharmaceutical companies to lower their U.S. drug prices to bring them more in line with other nations, kicking off high-stakes negotiations with the companies.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will aim to negotiate drug prices down to the lowest prices paid by peer nations, and the pricing targets will apply to brand-name drugs that don’t face competition from generics or biosimilars.
“We expect pharmaceutical manufacturers to fulfill their commitment to lower prices for American patients, or we will take action to ensure they do,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement.
