Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators on April 21 that glyphosate, a key ingredient in herbicides like Roundup, causes cancer and that human consumption of the chemical should be minimized.
His comments came amid growing political and legal controversy over the chemical, which is widely used in agriculture. During a Senate Budget Committee hearing, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) asked Kennedy whether the chemical caused cancer.
Without hesitation, Kennedy replied, “Yes.” Schatz also asked if the chemical was safe for human use.
“I mean, safe, or does it kill weeds? It kills weeds,” Kennedy said. “I would say it’s important to minimize consumption of glyphosate as much as possible.”
Schatz told Kennedy he was being “uncharacteristically diplomatic about glyphosate,” which Kennedy, a standard-bearer for the Make America Healthy Again movement, denied.
Kennedy helped secure a $289 million award from Monsanto in 2018 while representing a client who alleged Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Now, Kennedy is the leading health official for an administration that is defending Monsanto in a Supreme Court case set for oral argument just days after the health secretary’s testimony.
That case, known as Monsanto v. Durnell, similarly involves a man alleging that Monsanto’s Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The Justice Department didn’t argue as much on glyphosate’s alleged health hazards as it did that the lower-court verdict against Monsanto was legally flawed.
President Donald Trump addressed the issue in February, signing an executive order that said glyphosate-based herbicides were critical to the nation’s economy and national security.
“Any major restrictions in access to glyphosate-based herbicides would result in economic losses for growers and make it untenable for them to meet growing food and feed demands,” his order reads.
“Ensuring an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides is thus crucial to the national security and defense, including food-supply security, which is essential to protecting the health and safety of Americans.”
Schatz told Kennedy he had many friends in Hawaii who supported the health secretary, but they were shocked when Kennedy put out a February statement in support of Trump’s executive order on glyphosate, which would also give immunity to manufacturers if Congress were to pass it into law.
“Pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. “Unfortunately, our agricultural system depends heavily on these chemicals.”
The executive order, and Kennedy’s reaction, led to pushback among Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, supporters, who denounced Trump’s characterization of glyphosate as critical to national security.
“I was very clear with the president about my own displeasure with the executive order,” Kennedy told Schatz. “The president felt it was necessary for national security reasons.”
The health secretary said the idea for the executive order came from the Pentagon, and the administration regards the issue as one that Trump inherited—not created.
The overwhelming majority of American agriculture relies on glyphosate-based herbicides, and “100 percent of that is coming from China,” Kennedy said.
“You have an adversary that could literally shut down the American food supply overnight,” he testified. “[Trump’s] executive order does not increase the use of glyphosate. All it says is, as long as we’re dependent on it, we’re going to make it here.”
In Kennedy’s X post, he stated that cross-agency steps are being taken to shift away from harmful agricultural practices. The health secretary reaffirmed this goal to lawmakers at the April 21 hearing.
Monsanto has denied Roundup causes cancer and has argued no cancer warning is necessary because the Environmental Protection Agency has historically considered Roundup and glyphosate safe to use.
