HYDE-SMITH WARNS AGAINST BASELESS ATTACKS ON AMERICAN FOOD PRODUCTION IN PENDING MAHA REPORT
HHS Sec. Dismisses Miss. Senator’s Concerns that MAHA Report Will Ignore Decades of Sound Science, Undermine Confidence in American Food Supply with False Claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of an expected Thursday release of an initial Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss) today vigorously defended American farmers and the crop protection tools they use to produce healthy, abundant, and affordable food.
At a Senate Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to review the FY2026 HHS budget request, Hyde-Smith questioned HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy about reports that the MAHA Commission’s initial review could target American farming by suggesting vital crop protection tools that federal regulators have deemed safe for years are suddenly in need of additional examination, despite thousands of studies and decades of review by leading global health authorities affirming their safety.
“I could not be more supportive of this administration’s goal to improve the mental and physical health of all Americans and to gain a better understanding of why our nation struggles in certain areas. However, I am deeply concerned with reports from reliable sources – now appearing in the media – that the MAHA Commission’s initial assessment, which is expected to be released this week, may unfairly target American agriculture, modern farming practices, and the crop protection tools that roughly 2 percent of our population relies on to help feed the remaining 98 percent,” Hyde-Smith said.
“I trust these reports are not true, and that this initial assessment prepared over the course of three months is not intended to serve any hidden agenda – hidden agendas such as suggesting that products that have undergone the EPA pesticide approval process, which is widely considered to have the most rigorous standards in the world, are unsafe,” the Senator continued.
Hyde-Smith asked Kennedy if the report will adhere to key provisions of President Trump’s MAHA executive order to “avoid or eliminate conflicts of interest that skew outcomes and perpetuate distrust” and to ensure that “agencies shall work with farmers to ensure that United States food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world.”
“Mr. Secretary, with respect to the subsection that I just mentioned regarding conflicts of interest, skewing outcomes, and perpetuating distrust, do you think America’s farmers and ranchers will believe you are living up to this principle when they read your initial assessment later this week?” Hyde-Smith said.
Hyde-Smith also expressed skepticism that a three-month review is sufficient to prove that the government’s exhaustive pesticide review and regulatory processes are flawed and contribute to an unsafe American food supply.
Kennedy refuted Hyde-Smith, stating the initial assessment will not target American agriculture and that the success of MAHA relies on farmers.
“Your information about the report is just simply wrong,” Kennedy said. “The drafts that I’ve seen, there’s not a single word in them that should worry the American farmer.”
“And you can prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt?” Hyde-Smith asked.
“Everybody will see the report and there’s nobody that has a greater commitment to the American farmer than we do. The MAHA movement collapses if we can’t partner with the American farmer in producing a safe, robust, and abundant food supply,” Kennedy continued. “I’ve said throughout this process that we cannot take any step that will that will put a single farmer in this country out of business.”
“It is going to be a shame if the MAHA Commission issues a report suggesting, without substantial facts and evidence, that our government got things terribly wrong when it reviewed a number of crop protection tools and deemed them to be safe. So, Mr. Secretary, we have to get this right. You have to be 100 percent certain,” Hyde-Smith replied. “I trust your report will be as described – an initial assessment of things to be considered, but yet to be determined.”
Kennedy and the MAHA Commission will use the initial report as the basis for developing a “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy to tackle childhood chronic diseases, which is expected to be delivered to President Trump in August.
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