Why Did Republicans Vote to Keep Pesticide Liability Shields in the Farm Bill?

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Just recently, the House of Representatives voted to strip the liability shield offered to pesticide manufacturers out of the farm bill. This liability shield had been added by the Republican leadership. Now, every Democrat except six voted to strip this protection out. The overwhelming majority of Republicans voted to keep it in, 135 to 73. Now, this goes hand in hand with Trump's recent executive order to expand the domestic production of glyphosate and to shield its manufacturers from liability. This also comports with an amicus brief filed by the Trump Justice Department in support of Bayer Monsanto as they take their case to the Supreme Court to once again shield themselves from liability for their pesticides that the WHO concludes is a probable carcinogen. This is a reversal of the Biden administration policy. So, I often bring this up with my Maha friends and I say, "I know that you care about health and you were instrumental to stripping this liability shield out. So, why do you support this administration that seems absolutely bent on increasing pesticide use and providing a liability shield for these big multinational companies?" And what I often get back is that, "Well, you know, both parties are the same. Obama sold us out, whatever." But, the best reflection of which party actually cares about health is the votes and the policies that they espouse. And this is why I think Maha will eventually need to rebrand itself because it is inherently allied with Maga. It's Maga with an H.

[00:01:34]And when all the dust settles and the fog burns off, it will be once again clear that the Democratic Party, for all of its warts, is the party that has consistently and will consistently stand up for environmental regulations because Democrats, for better or worse, are regulatory and Republicans are not.