RFK Jr.'s Top Adviser Calley Means Quits Trump Administration Days Before Midterms

Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a leading voice in the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, has resigned from the Trump administration, just days before the November 3 midterm elections.

Means announced his departure on Thursday, October 22, saying he was leaving with “tremendous respect” for President Donald Trump and Kennedy. He did not give a reason for leaving in his public statement, but reporting on his exit points to deep frustration inside the administration over stalled food-policy reforms.

“The past two years have seen historic policy and cultural change to confront the chronic disease crisis and healthcare incentives that profit from us being sick,” Means wrote. “This movement is in the first inning and just getting started.”

Means submitted his resignation to Kennedy on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the situation cited by Reuters. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the resignation, said Means had grown frustrated by White House delays to some of Kennedy’s most popular policy ideas and blamed others in the administration for giving food companies and special interests too much sway. One person familiar with the matter described him as “disillusioned.”

Means joined the administration early in Trump’s second term, first serving as a White House adviser and then, from November last year, as a permanent senior adviser supporting food and nutrition policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. In that role he championed MAHA priorities including dietary guidelines reform, psychedelic treatment reform, removing soda from SNAP benefits, removing food dyes, reforming the GRAS food-ingredient system, and overhauling government food procurement.

His exit follows delays to two Kennedy priorities: a definition of ultraprocessed foods aimed at eventual labeling requirements, and a school-meals regulation requiring less added sugar and more protein. The Journal reported that Means had clashed with other White House officials in recent months over the pace of the agenda, while some officials found him difficult to work with and unwilling to make practical concessions.

The White House thanked Means for his service. “We are grateful for Calley Means’ time in the Trump Administration,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said. “He has done a fantastic job for the MAHA movement.”

Means said he would continue working to advance Kennedy’s MAHA agenda from outside government. His sister, Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer and author, had her nomination for US surgeon general withdrawn by Trump earlier this year.

The departure comes as leading MAHA voices have expressed discontent with what they describe as slow movement on food safety, pesticide regulation, and other health reforms — frustration that now lands in the final stretch of a midterm campaign in which health costs and food policy remain live political issues.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal; Reuters; Associated Press; News18; Scientific American.