Senator Markey Grills RFK Jr. Over Hypocrisy on Pesticides and Inability to Stand Up to Trump

Washington (April 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, released the following statement following his questioning of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appeared in front of the HELP Committee this afternoon. Under questioning from Senator Markey, Secretary Kennedy admitted, for what appears to be the first time, that he opposed President Donald Trump's support for RoundUp pesticide manufacturer Monsanto in an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case regarding whether the company can be held accountable for harming people. The dangerous chemical glyphosate is an ingredient in RoundUp.

"Today, the American people bore witness to how dangerously incompetent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is as the nation's top health official. Despite his longstanding belief that the pesticide ingredient glyphosate causes cancer, he has proved unable to stop the Trump administration from bending to the corporation that manufactures it.

"In response to my questioning, Secretary Kennedy admitted, for what appears to be the first time, that he opposed President Trump backing Monsanto in the upcoming Supreme Court case. It was clear to me that the President disregards Secretary Kennedy's advice and sidelines him from important public health decisions. I've been sounding the alarm since Day 1 of his tenure - he is destructive, deceptive, and dangerous. Secretary Kennedy cannot be trusted to lead the HHS, and he should resign."

For years, Secretary Kennedy has called the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup a carcinogen. But President Trump's Department of Justice filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Monsanto v. Durnell in March 2026 supporting Monsanto, seeking a ruling that would shield Monsanto from thousands of lawsuits filed by cancer patients.

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