MAHA has reshaped health policy. Now it’s working on environmental rules

AP News ^ | Updated 11:17 PM CST, February 2, 2026 | SEJAL GOVINDARAO, ALI SWENSON and MICHAEL PHILLIS

[E. Pluribus Unum]

WASHINGTON (AP) — On New Year’s Eve, Lee Zeldin did something out of character for an Environmental Protection Agency leader who has been hacking away at regulations intended to protect Americans’ air and water.

He announced new restrictions on five chemicals commonly used in building materials, plastic products and adhesives, and he cheered it as a “MAHA win.”

It was one of many signs of a fragile collaboration that’s been building between a Republican administration that’s traditionally supported big business and a Make America Healthy Again movement that argues corporate environmental harms are putting people’s health in danger.

The unlikely pairing grew out of the coalition’s success influencing public health policy with the help of its biggest champion, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As health secretary, he has pared back vaccine recommendations and shifted the government’s position on topics like seed oils, fluoride and Tylenol.

Building on that momentum, the movement now sees a glimmer of hope in the EPA’s promise to release a “MAHA agenda” in the coming months.

At stake is the strength of President Donald Trump ’s coalition as November’s midterm elections threaten his party’s control of Congress. After a politically diverse group of MAHA devotees came together to help Trump return to the White House a little more than one year ago, disappointing them could mean losing the support of a vocal voting bloc.

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TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections
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[FreedomNotSafety]

If Trump isn’t careful his deregulation agenda will be destroyed by these idiots. But certainly Kennedy’s trial har lawyer buddies are going to do well. Kennedy is better at grifting and scare mongering than even Algorilla.

[lastchance]

I think one big difference is that any new or revised regs will be based on true verifiable research and more importantly will not go beyond the boundaries set on EPA by Congress. They will not be just expanding their jurisdiction.

[Jonty30]

I haven’t hear anything too bad from Kennedy’s rewriting the health rules. That seems to be a good thing.

He seems less radical than I had feared he might be.

[spintreebob]

RFK & HHS has the biggest budget and waste of money of any agency. I appreciate concern for chemical X. But attention to Waste, Fraud, Abuse (DOGE) would also be appreciated.