Calley Means, a senior adviser tied to President Donald Trump's health agenda, resigned Thursday from his post at the Department of Health and Human Services.
His exit removes another figure from the political coalition behind the Make America Healthy Again movement, with the midterm elections approaching.
Means had helped shape initiatives on food quality, including proposals to expand disclosure of chemicals in food, remove artificial food dyes and block soda purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to The New York Times.
He also worked on an executive order backing the development of psychedelic medications, an effort that drew support from podcast host Joe Rogan.
Glyphosate Dispute Marked a Turning Point
In a statement on his departure, Means voiced continued respect for the president and Health Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., a central figure in the MAHA movement.
He described Trump and Kennedy as "two historic figures who are committed to confronting a corrupt D. C.
bureaucracy that is doing everything possible to protect the status quo."
Yet a person close to him told The New York Times that Means had grown increasingly frustrated with obstacles to the administration's food policy commitments.
One of his aims was to establish a definition of ultraprocessed foods, a preliminary step toward possible regulation.
Vani Hari, a MAHA leader and healthy-eating influencer, pointed to a dispute over glyphosate as a turning point in Means's relationship with the administration.
Hari said the White House unsettled movement supporters when it issued an executive order supporting increased glyphosate production, creating tension within a coalition that had made food quality and chemical exposure central concerns.
Means's departure comes as the administration's health agenda faces competing priorities over food production, chemical regulation and the development of new treatments.
