The House on Thursday removed a series of controversial provisions aimed at protecting pesticide manufacturers from the Farm Bill after the “Make America Healthy Again” uprising threatened to sink the broader policy.
An amendment led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to strip this language passed by a vote of 280-142 after mounting bipartisan opposition from lawmakers and MAHA supporters who said the provision amounted to a protective “liability shield.” bayer From claims that Roundup herbicide and the chemical glyphosate cause cancer. The broader farm bill passed the House on a 224-200 vote Thursday morning.
Maine Rep. Cherry Pingree, who led the Democratic push to repeal the pesticide language, said the language meant “handouts to big agriculture and big chemicals.”
“This preempts states’ rights to regulate the use and labeling of pesticides and provides a liability shield for pesticide manufacturers,” Pingree said on the House floor. “Simply put, this language puts the profits of chemical companies ahead of the health of the American people.”
A billboard protesting Speaker Glenn Thompson’s farm bill in Washington, D.C., April 30, 2026.
Angela Grayling Keene CNBC
Lawsuits alleging that glyphosate causes cancer have been going on for years, and Bayer and Monsanto, which manufactured Roundup before the German drug giant acquired it, are frequently found liable for failing to warn of cancer risks. Although the Environmental Protection Agency does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogen and does not require labels to disclose cancer risks, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that the chemical is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
The bill’s language would prohibit states or courts from penalizing or imposing liability on “entities that fail to comply with requirements requiring labeling or packaging in addition to or different from those approved by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
Bayer said in a statement to CNBC that removing the provision was “a missed opportunity for Congress.”
“By taking this vote, Congress has turned its back on American farmers in an increasingly competitive global landscape by allowing blatant misinformation to undermine support for this important provision,” the statement said. “Removal of this language could create a patchwork of regulations and ambiguity at a time when clarity is most needed.”
Chairman Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pennsylvania. Discussions were held before the House Agriculture Committee marked up the Digital Asset Market Transparency Act of 2025 at the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
House Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson opposed the amendment, telling reporters Wednesday night that breaking the provision would be a “huge blow to American farmers.” Mr. Thompson has repeatedly pushed back against accusations that the language is a liability shield, arguing that it only prevents “frivolous lawsuits” and that “bad actors” can still be sued.
Despite this, Thompson still celebrated the passage of the Farm Bill, writing in an
Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. The MAHA coalition, which has supported the White House and President Donald Trump after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew from the 2024 election, has fallen into a rift since Trump endorsed glyphosate production in February.
Earlier this week, the White House argued on behalf of Bayer before the Supreme Court in a case that could make it much harder to sue Bayer over cancer claims.
The Farm Bill is currently before the Senate.
