Calley Means, a senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services and one of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s closest allies, resigned on Thursday. Means is the figure credited with introducing Kennedy to Donald Trump in 2024 — the connection that led to Kennedy’s endorsement and then his Cabinet post.
He announced the departure himself, on X: “I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy,” he wrote, citing “dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick.” He listed the policies he says he steered: dietary guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and a food procurement overhaul.
The reason, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking: frustration with stalled progress on the chronic-disease and food agenda — ultraprocessed foods and pesticides at the top of it. An activist “scorecard” circulated this month claimed the administration had failed most of its promises on pesticides and healthier food. One flashpoint was the president’s February executive order increasing production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup; Bayer won its Supreme Court case in June with the administration’s backing, and Means said at the time that he and Kennedy were “extremely disappointed.”
President Trump, asked about the resignation Thursday afternoon, said: “I don’t know him very well,” adding, “MAHA is great.” The White House and HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Means is the latest in a string of departures from Kennedy’s circle: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned in May, FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad left in April, and the surgeon-general nomination of Means’s sister, Casey Means, was withdrawn for lack of Senate votes. His exit lands 12 days before the November 3 midterm elections.
The Facts
- Calley Means, senior HHS adviser and Kennedy ally, resigned Thursday, October 22 (CNN; Reuters).
- He announced it on X, citing “dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick,” and listed the policies he says he steered.
- People familiar with his thinking cite stalled action on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides; the February glyphosate order was a flashpoint (CNN; Newsmax).
- President Trump, asked Thursday: “I don’t know him very well… MAHA is great.”
- Recent Kennedy-world exits: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary (May), FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad (April), and the withdrawn surgeon-general nomination of Casey Means.
Sources: The New York Times; CNN; Reuters; Newsmax; Daily Caller.
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