(NewsNation) — A provision in a government funding bill is sparking backlash over its proposed liability protections for pesticide companies.
Located in the House’s 2026 funding legislation for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, Section 453 would protect pesticide companies from lawsuits and block states from putting their own warnings on pesticide products. Critics are calling it a liability shield for pesticide companies, and it has become a flashpoint for parents involved in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
The group, which helped propel President Trump’s second term in office, is now citing concerns that Trump’s EPA and Republicans in Congress are opting to side with the pesticide industry rather than protect the country’s food supply from toxins they insist can cause cancer. Bayer, the maker of the weed killer Roundup, has already paid nearly $11 billion to settle lawsuits alleging the product caused cancer. The company still maintains that its products are safe.
In addition, Section 453 would give the EPA the final word on glyphosate regulation. If the agency rules that glyphosate—Roundup’s main ingredient—is safe, states could not require their own warnings on labels. As a result, this would effectively shut down lawsuits from plaintiffs who say they were never warned before developing life-altering illnesses.
Companies like Bayer have been lobbying at both the state and federal levels to standardize labeling, despite pushback from the MAHA movement.
“Essentially, what this bill will do is grant manufacturers a liability shield,” Courtney Swan, an integrative nutritionist and host of the “Real Foodology” podcast, said. “And what that means is that if someone were to get cancer from using their products, or get sick from using their products, they would not be able to hold the company liable.”
As of now, the EPA reports that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic. But since 2015, the World Health Organization has classified it as “probably carcinogenic.”
Bayer declined an interview, but in a statement to NewsNation said, in part, “Growers and users need reaffirmation… states cannot impose labeling or packaging requirements in addition to or different from the EPA’s scientific conclusions.”
If Section 453 passes, only EPA reviews would count; independent studies wouldn’t appear on labels.