Calley Means, a senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and one of the best-known figures in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, resigned from the Trump administration on Thursday, announcing his departure in a post on X. Means submitted his resignation to Kennedy on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the situation.
"I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy," Means wrote. "They laid out a vision of combatting the entrenched, dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick. More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history — and I know this movement is just getting started. It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement." He gave no reason for leaving.
People familiar with his decision, however, say Means had grown frustrated and disillusioned with the pace of the agenda he was hired to advance. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the resignation, said he was significantly frustrated by White House delays of some of Kennedy's most popular policy ideas and blamed others in the administration for allowing food companies and special interests to have too much sway over policy. The Journal has reported that the White House set aside two Kennedy priorities: writing rules for ultraprocessed foods, and requiring school meals to contain more protein and less sugar. Other reporting described Means raising his voice in recent meetings over the lack of progress, and refusing to make political compromises.
Means was widely credited with introducing Kennedy to Trump — the connection that led Kennedy to endorse Trump and then join his Cabinet. He served as one of Kennedy's closest outside advisers before officially joining the administration, first as a special government employee at the White House from March to October 2025, and then, from November, in a permanent role as a senior adviser supporting food and nutrition policy. From his perch at the Health and Human Services Department, he attacked the nation's leading physician groups, federal agencies and government scientists, claiming they protect only their own interests.
His exit lands in the middle of a wider MAHA reckoning. This month, a coalition of MAHA activists released a “scorecard” claiming the administration had failed most of its promises to restrict pesticide use — including the weed killer glyphosate — promote healthier foods and break up special interests in Washington. A MAHA summit last month also drew criticism from supporters for its corporate backers, which included Walmart, UnitedHealth, Anthropic, OpenAI and Grail, with sponsorship packages reportedly sold for up to $300,000. The departure comes less than two weeks before the midterm elections, and marks the latest strain in the alliance between Trump's MAGA base and Kennedy's MAHA voters, who helped power Trump to the White House in 2024.
The White House responded warmly. Spokeswoman Allison Schuster said the administration is "grateful" for Means' time and that "he has done a fantastic job for the MAHA movement." The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment. Health activist Kelly Ryerson, known on social media as Glyphosate Girl, said she was "impressed that he completed over two years at HHS fighting the food battle, despite all of the obstacles presented by corporate interests." Critics of the movement claimed vindication: Shaughnessy Naughton, president of the group 314 Action, said "Calley Means has called it quits because the grifter got grifted," and accused Trump and Kennedy of betraying the promises that built MAHA.
Means co-wrote the 2024 book "Good Energy," a foundational text of the movement, with his sister Casey Means. Trump nominated Casey Means for surgeon general, but the nomination was withdrawn earlier this year amid Republican concerns over her medical qualifications and vaccine positions. On Instagram, Calley Means' wife, Leslie Voorhees Means, marked his last day with a tribute post: "I'm so so proud of Calley as he ends his current tour in government today... He not only kickstarted a national conversation around the incentives of our healthcare system, but implemented real policy changes too. And I know the MAHA mission is just getting started."