Calley Means was widely seen as one of MAHA’s most important allies in the White House.
By Catholics for Catholics
Calley Means, a key figure of the Make America Healthy Again movement, quit the Trump administration on Thursday just two weeks before the midterm elections, portending a further loss of an alliance that helped thrust President Trump to the Presidency in 2024.
Means, a high-ranking adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services, was a vital official behind policies around food quality, including a push to augment disclosure of the removal of artificial food dyes and ban soda from the federal food assistance program known as SNAP chemicals in food.
Still, the Wall Street Journal reported that Means, a senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “quit his role on Thursday.” He told the outlet he would continue to fight for the MAHA agenda.
According to a story by the Daily Wire, was “greatly frustrated by White House delays of some of Kennedy’s most popular policy ideas and blamed others in the administration for allowing food companies and special interests to have too much sway,” citing people familiar with the matter. Another person said Means had become “disillusioned.”
Nevertheless, Means said in a statement that he has “tremendous respect” for President Trump and Kennedy, and thanked them for laying out a vision to combat the “dark forces in DC” that profit from sick Americans.
“More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history — and I know this movement is just getting started,” Means said.
“It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement,” he added.
