MAHA is mad. Its alliance with Trump is about to face its biggest test

A Supreme Court case and a bill moving through Congress this week are set to test the bonds of Republicans and the Make America Healthy Again movement, following a near-rupture in February over the weedkiller glyphosate. 

The court will hear a case Monday to decide whether federal law preempts state-level lawsuits alleging glyphosate, the chemical in Bayer’s herbicide Roundup, causes cancer. And the U.S. House is expected to take up the farm bill this week, a massive agricultural policy measure that includes new protections for the chemical. 

The MAHA movement, a coalition of activists who push for healthy food and eschew chemicals, helped deliver President Donald Trump back to the White House after their preferred presidential candidate, now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dropped out of the election and endorsed the president. The group hates glyphosate, which is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and integral to many farm operations.

The Supreme Court arguments and the farm bill put MAHA squarely at odds with Trump and the majority of Republicans in Congress. It comes just months after a prior blowup when Trump signed an executive order to boost the domestic production of glyphosate, a break that caused Kennedy to step in and do damage control. And with the 2026 midterm election less than seven months away and Trump’s approval rating down in polls, keeping the coalition intact could be critical for Republicans who are racing to maintain their slim majorities in both chambers of Congress.

“It has been a really, really rough few months because we have an attack coming from the executive branch, the judicial branch and over in Congress,” said Kelly Ryerson, a MAHA advocate who goes by the moniker “the Glyphosate Girl.” 

“The combination of the executive order and going to bat for Bayer at the Supreme Court are really inexcusable,” Ryerson said. “And I think it showed a deep disconnect between what the administration thinks that MAHA cares about and what is actually true.”

For now, the White House appears firmly in glyphosate’s court. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates pesticides and herbicides, does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogen and does not require glyphosate labels to disclose cancer risk. But many individuals have sued, alleging they got cancer from Roundup use, and arguing that Bayer and Monsanto, which made glyphosate before Bayer acquired the company in 2018, failed to warn consumers of that risk. Kennedy in 2018 won nearly $290 million for a man in one such case. 

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