Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and central advocate for the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, has resigned from the Trump administration.
“I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and RFK — two historic figures who are committed to confronting a corrupt DC bureaucracy that is doing everything possible to protect the status quo,” Means said in a statement to NBC News. He posted a similar one on X.
Means was an adviser on Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign and a key architect of his MAHA agenda. He joined the White House early last year as a special government employee. He transitioned to a full-time role as senior adviser to the Health and Human Services Department after divesting from his wellness company, Truemed.
A person familiar with Means’ decision to resign said Means had been growing increasingly frustrated as he realized how little he could get done in Washington to advance his MAHA goals.
The final straw, the source said, was the lack of progress on rolling out a federal definition of ultraprocessed foods — one of Means’ biggest priorities. The administration teased a definition in August but has yet to release it.
The source also mentioned Trump’s executive order to boost the supply of the weed killer glyphosate in the U.S. (glyphosate is the key ingredient in Roundup), as well as some actions at the Environmental Protection Agency that have clashed with Kennedy’s agenda.
Trump’s EPA has, for example, weakened mercury emissions standards and rolled back drinking water limits for certain PFAS chemicals — actions the MAHA movement has largely opposed.
“We are grateful for Calley Means’ time in the Trump Administration. He has done a fantastic job for the MAHA movement,” White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said in a statement.
Frustrations over a lack of progress on MAHA goals have reverberated throughout the movement. Earlier this month, some supporters — including former members of Kennedy’s presidential campaign — accused the Trump administration of breaking nearly every promise made to them on food, agriculture and environmental health.
With less than two weeks left until the midterm elections, some dissatisfied MAHA supporters have threatened to abstain from voting. Some Democrats are seeking to make inroads with the movement in the final days of campaigning.
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One of the MAHA movement’s central beliefs is that corporations hold too much influence over the food supply and healthcare system. Many of its supporters, including Means, had hoped to see a greater crackdown on pesticides and artificial dyes, as well as more significant changes to vaccine policy that emphasize what some describe as “medical freedom” over universal recommendations.
On pesticides, a particular setback for the MAHA cause came in June, when the Supreme Court ruled that Bayer, the manufacturer of Roundup, didn’t need to warn consumers about a potential cancer risk associated with its product. The Trump administration had backed Bayer in the case.
President Donald Trump last year nominated Means’ sister, Casey Means, for surgeon general, but she faced scrutiny at her confirmation hearing over her lack of an active medical license and past comments questioning the safety of vaccines and birth control. Trump chose a new nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier, in April.
Last month, at a talk Means gave at a MAHA summit in Washington, he said he was inspired by the way federal agencies had collaborated to advance the MAHA agenda, but he also acknowledged roadblocks.
“D.C. is a tough place. It’s a toxic place, and there’s a lot of complaints you can make about D.C.,” Means said. “But I am more optimistic today than I’ve ever been about what I feel is my life’s work of evangelizing the chronic disease crisis and empowering Americans who want to be healthy to address the root cause of disease.”
In his statement on Thursday, Means highlighted several policy wins for the MAHA movement during his tenure, including restricting soda purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, fast-tracking research and review of psychedelics, urging food companies to voluntarily phase out certain dyes and overhauling the federal dietary guidelines to recommend less ultraprocessed food and more protein.
“More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history,” he wrote.
