Following a tense year of Monsanto-Bayer’s 6-pronged strategy, making agrichemicals the next class of liability immune products in the United States, anger erupted last week all across social media as the federal level strategy was revealed.
That palpable anger quickly turned to accusations by lawmakers, such as Congresswoman Kelly Morrison (D-MN), who claims that President Trump’s administration is betraying MAHA values.
Smelling blood in the water, Democrats appear primed to make MAHA a midterm wedge issue by arguing that President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. misled health-conscious voters, cozying up to agribusiness to secure rural support.
Two days after the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies passed the bill with the controversial immunity rider – effectively shielding agrichemical giants like Monsanto-Bayer from liability – Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the “Pesticide Injury Accountability Act.”
Introduced July 17, 2025, Booker’s bill would allow federal lawsuits for pesticide-related harms, offering a lifeline when state courts are muzzled. Booker has received wide support from organizations that have, heretofore, championed MAHA. Children’s Health Defense, founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was among the first to lead with principles over party.
According to Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense; “Granting blanket immunity to corporations who have a fiscal responsibility to their shareholders, and not a responsibility to consumer safety, is one of the most dangerous propositions imaginable,” Holland’s statement reads. “CHD sincerely thanks Senator Booker for his leadership in sponsoring this critical piece of legislation to protect the American people over corporations.”
Holland’s sentiments have been echoed on X where commenters have alleged that corporate protections are “a slap in the face” to farmers, who bear the brunt of chemical exposure. Many have also suggested that pesticide immunity could fracture the MAGA/MAHA base, costing Republicans votes.
Politically, the agrichemical issue is becoming something of a powder keg as the 2026 midterms loom.
Democrats, seizing on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s unfulfilled promises, have also pointed to the MAHA Commission’s May 2025 report that flagged pesticides’ health risks but stopped short of language that would prompt new guidelines.
However, should the bill pass the full Appropriations Committee vote on July 22, 2025, with the immunity rider still attached, that desired language would be a moot point.
Section 453 would prevent the EPA and all other agencies from using funds to issue new guidance, regulate or act upon the new “gold standard of science,” promised by the Trump administration. While short, Section 453 cuts deep, requiring a “human health assessment” to be conducted prior to the EPA or any other agency being able to act.
Due to the fact that the EPA only reviews currently licensed chemicals under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) every fifteen years; given that the last review of glyphosate was done in 2020, finding “no risk of human health concern,” it would be at least another decade before the EPA could act upon new glyphosate science—such as the June 2025 study published by NIH.
This split leaves small farmers caught between the need to remove burdensome and unnecessary regulations hindering food production, and the foreign-owned chemical lobby that’s captured regulatory agencies.
For small family farms, the stakes are existential. While Roundup Ready seeds and drift have already decimated non-GMO crops, vaccine-like manufacturer immunity now threatens to strip away the last defense of farmers and ranchers.
And, as this battle now turns political, America’s farmers and ranchers are like a kid on the playground, hoping to get picked over the foreign-owned giants and heavy hitters that seemingly get to make the rules.
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Call These Members of Congress and Demand They Strike Section 453 from H.R. 9043
Section 453 of the FY26 House Interior Appropriations bill would freeze the EPA’s pesticide reviews and block 67,000 cancer lawsuits tied to Roundup. Congress votes soon. These are the members of the Appropriations Committee with the power to stop it—call now and tell them: “Remove Section 453 from H.R. 9043.”
Republicans:
- Rep. Mike Simpson (ID-02): (202) 225-5531
- Rep. Michael Cloud (TX-27): (202) 225-7742
- Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04): (202) 225-6165
- Rep. Jake Ellzey (TX-06): (202) 225-2002
- Rep. Celeste Maloy (UT-02): (202) 225-9730
- Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14): (202) 225-2065
- Rep. Ryan Zinke (MT-01): (202) 225-5628
Democrats:
- Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn (SC-06): (202) 225-3315
- Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03): (202) 225-3661
- Rep. Josh Harder (CA-09): (202) 225-4540
- Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-04): (202) 225-6631
- Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-01): (202) 225-6116
Bonus:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14): Already publicly opposed the provision. Call to thank her and show support: (202) 225-5211
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