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Republicans vote down farm bill amendment enabling lawsuits against pesticide companies, a blow to MAHA
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Senate Republicans on Thursday voted down an amendment that sought to open up Americans' ability to sue pesticide companies over the health impacts of their products. The amendment to the Senate farm bill failed in a party-line vote. While the measure was backed by all of the Senate Agriculture Committee's Democrats and none of its Republicans, it's also a blow to pesticide critics in the right-wing "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement. It's something that MAHA-aligned GOP members of the House are also pushing for. The amendment, brought by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), would have clarified that pesticide labeling requirements in the nation's pesticide law do not block a person's ability to sue a chemical company over failure-to-warn of additional health impacts. It also would have authorized pesticide companies to list cancer warnings on their labels. "It restores the fundamental right of cancer victims to have their day in court," Booker said of his amendment during the markup. "Although Republicans blocked the amendment today, I will continue to push for these protections as the Farm Bill moves forward to ensure pesticide companies cannot hide behind liability shields. This Administration may be abandoning its promise to make America healthy again, but I will continue to fight," Booker said in a statement to The Hill. The push comes after the Supreme Court recently ruled that language in the nation's pesticide law requires companies to only list health impacts formally recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The high court therefore blocked state-level lawsuits alleging that companies failed to warn of health impacts not required to be listed by the EPA. While the ruling applies to all pesticides, it came amid a case involving Monsanto, which uses glyphosate in its Roundup weedkiller. The EPA says that lawful uses of glyphosate do not pose a risk to human health, but thousands of lawsuits have alleged a cancer link. The Senate committee, meanwhile, also failed to advance the farm bill itself on Thursday. Updated 6:43 p.m. EDT. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.