MAHA Movement Crumbles After 25% HHS Staff Cut and Key Health Posts Stay Vacant
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 3
MAHA Movement Crumbles After 25% HHS Staff Cut and Key Health Posts Stay Vacant
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 3
Summary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again coalition is described as already in shambles, with few policy wins and persistent rumors—denied by his office—that he may leave the Trump administration.
At HHS, a 25% staffing cut last year left major vacancies, including no confirmed leaders at the CDC, FDA, surgeon general's office, NIAID and key FDA centers overseeing vaccines and drugs.
MAHA's signature agenda has also stalled: vaccine changes were limited and easily bypassed, while business-aligned Trump appointees blocked or reversed efforts on glyphosate, mercury and other pollutants.
Recent blows deepened the slide, including a Supreme Court setback in a Roundup-related case, disproved claims linking Tylenol in pregnancy to autism, and internal evidence contradicting a memo on 10 childhood Covid-vaccine deaths.
The article argues the coalition was always a thin alliance held together mainly by Covid-era distrust, and that its biggest impact on research has been broad science-funding cuts rather than a durable policy realignment.