MAHA moms versus Trump's EPA chief
Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and a seasoned politician — he’s a former GOP House member from New York — is on a charm offensive, The New York Times reports.
Mothers in the Make America Healthy Again movement say the EPA has been breaking President Trump’s promises to improve American health.
Several prominent MAHA activists recently circulated a petition urging Trump to fire Zeldin, saying he’s been prioritizing the interests of chemical manufacturers over the well-being of American families and children.
In March, EPA launched what it called the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history, citing 31 actions. But the MAHA activists are focused specifically on pesticides and chemicals, out of concerns about potential links to increasing cancer rates, as well as infertility. Their concerns are shared by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Times says.
Some of the movement’s leaders say they’ll work to make children’s exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals an issue in next year’s midterm elections.
Last week, Zeldin made a surprise appearance at a MAHA holiday reception. He invited activists to visit him at EPA headquarters the next day and introduced them to senior department heads. He said the agency will adopt a “MAHA agenda.”
“Listen, I’m a die-hard conservative,” says Alex Clark, who hosts a health and wellness podcast for young conservative women on Turning Point USA, the late Charlie Kirk’s media network. “I voted for Trump every single time. I want the Republicans to win the midterm. One reason we won’t is if the EPA continues to mess it up for moms.”
The MAHA actions suggest a shift in the players facing off over environmental policy, says the Times.
Until now, the biggest outcry over Trump’s environmental policies has been from groups largely aligned with progressive causes.
“We engage with EPA so often, and have never come close to the administrator’s office,” says Lori Ann Burd, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group.
“So the fact that you can get an invite overnight just speaks to the power of the MAHA world,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of pressure on the administration right now coming from people who they know they owe a lot to.”
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