Calley Means, the health entrepreneur who became the Trump administration's most vocal advocate of the MAHA agenda, resigned from his senior adviser post on Thursday.
Why it matters: Means' departure two weeks before the midterm elections underscores the MAHA base's discontent with the pace of change on food policy and the administration's stances on issues like pesticide use.
Driving the news: Means cited "entrenched, dark forces in DC" in a statement on X but said he had "tremendous respect" for the way President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out a vision for change.
- He cited the administration's work to overhaul dietary guidelines, advance psychedelic therapies, ban the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for sugary drinks, and get food companies to voluntarily remove artificial dyes and other additives from products.
- The Department of Health and Human Services didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Between the lines: Tensions between the MAHA faithful and the administration peaked in February, after Trump issued an executive order to increase domestic production of glyphosate, a common weed killer.
- Kennedy and others close to the movement had argued pesticides are making Americans sick. But agriculture interests said restricting their use would raise food prices and cost farmers billions.
Trump had tapped Means' sister, Casey, a nutrition influencer, for surgeon general last year but withdrew the nomination in April after her confirmation process stalled in the Senate.