MAHA influencers have doubts about their Senate leader

"Make America Healthy Again" influencers are rebelling against the movement’s leader in the Senate.

Some MAHA influencers are calling for the chair of the Senate MAHA Caucus, Sen. Roger Marshall, to go further in pushing for the base’s priorities, with one even suggesting he should step down from the post.

The influencers claim that the Kansas Republican has failed to represent the movement properly on a number of issues, including on pesticides and regenerative agriculture—a farming approach that focuses on rehabilitating soil health and moving away from harmful chemicals.

But Marshall says he doesn’t plan on stepping down anytime soon.

“Of course not,” he said in response to questions from National Journal. “I don't think anyone's worked harder than I have to try to help American agriculture meet MAHA, and my work on soil health speaks for itself.”

But “Glyphosate Girl” Kelly Ryerson, “Food Babe” Vani Hari, and Alexandra Muñoz, an independent toxicologist who works with MAHA advocates, told National Journal that Marshall’s votes to advance the farm bill in committee earlier this month went against the base’s priorities.

The bill, which is currently in limbo in the Senate, cuts over $2 billion in conservation programs and incentives for using regenerative practices to restore the health of farmland. The bill also includes a provision that would delay pesticide-safety reviews for five years.

“He should step down as MAHA Caucus chair. He has no business being there,” said Ryerson, a staunch opponent of pesticide use. “It's almost worse to put this flag up that you’re MAHA and then not live up to any of it.”

Muñoz didn’t go as far as to say Marshall should step down, but she said it was “problematic” for a senator with Marshall’s voting record to be leading the caucus and hosting events in the name of the movement.

The criticism comes amid a reckoning within the grassroots movement, as many followers have grown disillusioned with the Trump administration.

Republicans have struggled to balance the movement’s calls for restricting pesticide use with the interests of farmers—a vital GOP voting bloc—many of whom argue there is no effective alternative to the chemicals they use to maintain crops.

Marshall vs. MAHA

Marshall, a physician who represents one of the country’s leading agricultural states, was an early movement advocate.

A founding member of the GOP-only MAHA caucus, Marshall developed a platform that would deliver on four pillars of his vision for MAHA: increasing efficiency in agriculture, delivering more nutrient-rich food, allowing for affordable access to primary care, and addressing mental health issues. Last year, the senator told Fox News that he planned to introduce a package of nearly 30 bills that would enact these pillars.

A year later, the package had never materialized. A spokesperson for Marshall’s office did not respond to questions about why the release of the package was stalled.

In July 2025, Marshall held a roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on soil health, hoping to build a coalition between farmers and MAHA followers who have been railing against pesticides.

Ryerson, who was present for the roundtable, said she felt hopeful after the conversation. But in the days following the event, Ryerson went to meet with Marshall’s office to discuss the dangers of pesticides and said her concerns were rebuffed by a staffer.

“It was just made light of and dismissed right off the bat. It was really shocking—and incorrect,” Ryerson said. “Following that, there's been no interest in supporting the regenerative-agriculture collaborative ideas we’ve brought forward. It’s just been completely vacant, but yet he's stayed as this head of MAHA. ... There's just so much hypocrisy there.”

Hari, a leading voice within the movement and at times a critic of Marshall, did not say the Kansas Republican should step down from his position, but she said he has not been receptive to feedback from activists on agriculture issues. Hari cited her attempt to push Marshall to cosponsor Sen. Cory Booker’s amendment to the farm bill earlier this year that would have made it easier to sue chemical companies over the dangers of pesticides.

Marshall voted with other Republicans against Booker’s amendment.

“Maybe if the head of the MAHA caucus acted like the head of the MAHA caucus this wouldn’t be an opening,” Hari said in an X post, quoting an article about Democrats looking to spend against Marshall in an increasingly competitive Senate race.

A Marshall spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on his office's conversations with Hari and Ryerson.

The big picture

The clashes between the senator and the MAHA activists illustrate the waning influence the movement has had over Republicans in the administration and on Capitol Hill on issues that may clash with the needs of farmers.

A number of members of both the House and Senate MAHA caucuses are from agricultural districts and states. And in several conflicts in which Republicans were forced to pick a side, they sided with farmers who defend the use of pesticides. Marshall is in a tighter-than-expected reelection bid against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton. Coming out against pesticides could hurt his chances in Kansas.

“It's just so critically important that senators who are claiming to be MAHA understand that part of that commitment is a commitment to creating and maintaining off-ramps from chemical-intensive farming,” Muñoz said.

The upcoming vote on President Trump’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, White House adviser Heidi Overton, could also test Marshall’s MAHA loyalties.

Those within the MAHA-verse argue that Overton has tried to slow-walk a number of the base’s priorities, including changing federal nutrition guidelines, increasing access to the use of peptides, and reclassifying marijuana. MAHA members argue many of Overton's policy stances have been largely influenced by industry.

“She's the furthest thing from MAHA,” Hari said. “You might as well hire the ex-CEO of Pfizer and Pepsi to be in that job if you're going to pick her, because there's no core to what she believes.”

The White House has defended Overton, arguing she has played an “integral role in nearly every single MAHA policy victory by the Trump administration.”

Marshall, a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, was not present for Overton's nomination hearing, and it’s unclear why. He also has not voted against any of Trump’s nominees during the president’s second term.

While there may be a call for him to step down as head of the caucus, it’s not clear who the alternative could be. Hari suggested that Sen. Rand Paul, a staunch anti-vaxxer, could be a good fit. Paul told National Journal that he is sympathetic to the movement and works with MAHA activists on a host of issues, and didn’t rule out the possibility.

“I don’t have an answer for you on that,” he said.

Kennedy’s alliance with the Trump campaign in 2024 delivered a large bloc of independent voters, helping hand Trump the White House. But unkept campaign promises raise questions about where the movement goes from here.

“I think this is a huge opening for a third party, a different political party to start forming, that is going to take these issues seriously,” Hari said.