House passes farm bill without controversial pesticides provision
A contentious pesticide provision that was removed from a government funding bill in January has again been stripped from proposed legislation at the behest of President Donald Trump's own "Make America Healthy Again" movement.
The House of Representatives passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, known colloquially as the "farm bill," on April 30, the first time such extensive agriculture legislation could become law since Trump's first presidency.
Passed with a 224-200 vote, the bill now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers both across and within party lines have butted heads on several provisions of the legislation.
One of the largest sticking points of the bill was what critics called a "loophole" that protected pesticide companies like Bayer, which has contended with many lawsuits alleging that its Roundup herbicide products, which contain the chemical glyphosate, cause cancer.
In February, Trump issued an executive order prioritizing the U.S. production of glyphosate, saying the herbicide was critical to the nation’s security. A similar provision shielding pesticide companies nearly derailed a government funding bill the previous month, but was ultimately killed before being reintroduced in the farm bill.
A last-minute vote to strip the language from the farm bill, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, passed April 30 with a bipartisan vote of 280-142.
Glyphosate chemical takes center stage
Proponents of the legislation, including House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, and Trump, have argued that glyphosate is a boon to American farmers.
In February, Trump said the chemical allowed farmers to "efficiently and cost-effectively produce food and livestock feed." Lobbying groups have also said that the measure would not directly impact current or future legislation, but would reaffirm existing federal law, USA TODAY reported at the time. In a statement to USA TODAY on April 30, Bayer said the provision was supported by "hundreds of ag and farm groups" and was a "missed opportunity" for Congress.
"By taking this vote, Congress has turned their backs on U.S. farmers in an increasingly competitive global landscape by allowing blatant misinformation to undermine support for this critical provision," the company said.
Bayer, the only domestic producer of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides in the United States, previously threatened to stop producing Roundup in the country unless it obtained court protection against lawsuits blaming the pesticide for causing cancer.
The Environmental Protection Agency does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogen and does not require label disclosures for cancer risk. In March 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, consisting of 17 experts from 11 countries, found that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Trump's pro-pesticides stance riles a MAHA fan base
The MAHA movement has been a perhaps unexpected opponent to the Republican-led legislation, as USA TODAY previously reported. Outrage from activists, including notable figures from within the MAHA space, seemed to ultimately serve as a tipping point for the provision's removal both in January and April.
“It’s a huge slap in the face to MAHA," a self-identified "MAHA mom" told USA TODAY in March about Trump's executive order. "I think Trump is greatly underestimating how much the MAHA moms moved the needle and got him elected."
In a hearing on April 27, the Supreme Court appeared divided over whether Bayer can be sued for failing to warn that Roundup may cause cancer, hearing arguments in a major case that could block thousands of lawsuits and shield the company from billions of dollars in potential liability. The high court has not issued a ruling as of April 30.
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Donnelle Eller, Stephen Gruber-Miller, USA TODAY.