White House Staffers Undermined Pesticide Reform Over ‘National Security,’ Former MAHA Adviser Alleges

During an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast released Friday, a former adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed White House staffers countered his efforts to investigate a major pesticide.

“I was called into a room, and [former Chief of Staff] Susie [Wiles]’s person, [Assistant to the President for Policy] Walker Barrett, was there, and he puts an executive order down on the desk and he says, ‘Please review,’ and it was the glyphosate EO [executive order] that says it’s a national security issue,” Calley Means told Joe Rogan during the interview. He also described backlash he allegedly faced from pharmaceutical lobbies for encouraging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate the pesticide.

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The Feb. 18 executive order claimed glyphosate-based herbicides play a “critical role” in America’s “agricultural advantage” and tasked the secretary of agriculture with “ensuring a continued and adequate supply” of them.

“And I will tell you,” Means continued, “the secretary of war, the major generals … they don’t see our lack of glyphosate on U.S. farms as a national security issue, and the EO was all about farming … all about glyphosate.”

Means also claimed Barrett told him the executive order “was final” and to tell Kennedy “this is not up for discussion.” Wiles allegedly later called Kennedy’s office to affirm the directive.

He also alleged Heidi Overton — who later became Trump’s nominee for FDA commissioner of food and drugs — worked with the Department of Justice to encourage the Supreme Court to take a case which would give global life science company Bayer Global legal immunity from pesticide lawsuits. This, Means alleged, was done without consulting Kennedy.

The Supreme Court ruled June 25 that Bayer had immunity against thousands of lawsuits alleging its warning labels failed to warn consumers of glyphosate’s potential cancer risks.

“Have you spoken to Trump about this?” Rogan asked his guest.