A report expected from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday has GOP lawmakers representing farm states on the edge of their seats over fears he will push for restrictions that will impact their constituents and put them in a corner.
On the one hand, Republicans are expected to walk in lockstep with anything coming out of the Donald Trump administration, but not push back on any impactful HHS moves could cost them their seats.
According to a report from Politico, Kennedy will reportedly make recommendations that will propose new regulations aimed at food and farm companies as part of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative and his unpredictability and lack of transparency has some Republicans on edge.
EXCLUSIVE: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE
There are fears that his report will "point to pesticides and food dyes as potential causes for kids’ diseases and propose regulation that could cut profits and cost jobs," with a best case fear that it may only "dampen demand for the products their constituents make."
In a hearing last week, Kennedy attempted to calm GOP jitters by stating, "We cannot make America healthy again without the partnership of the American farmers. We cannot be putting them out of business,” but not all lawmakers left feeling assured.
“We have 88,000 farms in Missouri, and so my goal is to make sure that we feed Missouri and we feed the world, and we make sure that our producers have the tools they need to have the most effective crops, the healthiest crops,” stated Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) whose district includes massive corn and soybean farms.
He added, "We don’t need to be over-regulated, and the regulations that we do have need to be based on science.”
Senior GOP leader Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has already expressed skepticism about what is to come from Kennedy by complaining, "... the creation of this MAHA report has lacked transparency."
He echoed Alford by adding, "We want to make sure sound science is the basis of these conclusions."
You can read more here.
Leave a Comment
Related Post