Top MAHA Adviser Calley Means Resigns From Trump Administration Weeks Before Midterms

Calley Means, a senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. credited with first connecting Kennedy to Trump's campaign, publicly resigned his White House and HHS advisory role on October 22, 2026, less than two weeks before the midterms. The Wall Street Journal first reported the departure. Means had championed updating federal Dietary Guidelines, phasing out artificial food dyes, and restricting soda purchases under SNAP.

Officials and allies said Means left frustrated that the Make America Healthy Again agenda had stalled, citing the administration's continued support for the pesticide industry and unmet food-policy promises; a White House meeting on defining ultra-processed foods was delayed that same week. MAHA ally Alex Clark called the exit a 'major blow,' blaming corporate interference, while Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called Means a strong USDA partner despite disagreements.

Means gave no explicit reason in his own statement, instead praising Kennedy and Trump as fighting 'a corrupt DC bureaucracy' and calling the movement 'just getting started.' No successor had been named as of this report.