CALLING IT QUITS

‘Heart of MAHA’ Abruptly Quits RFK Jr.’s Office

The resignation comes less than a month after a report revealed he got into a fiery argument with White House officials.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top adviser, who has been called the “heart of MAHA,” has abruptly quit the Trump administration after a report says he became “disillusioned.”

Calley Means has resigned from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telling The Wall Street Journal he still intends to push the MAHA agenda from outside the administration.

“This movement is in the first inning and just getting started,” he said.

His resignation comes less than a month after the Journal reported Means got into a yelling match with top White House officials over the definition of processed food.

Means, 40, did not divulge why he resigned in a new interview with the Journal, but insiders tell the paper he was “greatly frustrated” by White House delays in addressing Kennedy’s policy ideas and accused the administration of allowing food companies to have too much sway.

An insider spoke similarly to NBC News, telling the network that the “final straw” for Means was the lack of progress on rolling out a federal definition of ultra-processed foods, which was a top priority for him. The administration teased a new definition in August, but has been quiet since.

HHS did not respond to a request for comment about Means’ resignation.

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Means hinted at how difficult it was to advance Kennedy’s agenda during a MAHA summit last month.

“D.C. is a tough place,” he said, according to NBC. “It’s a toxic place, and there’s a lot of complaints you can make about D.C.”

Despite this, Means claimed in a statement on X that he is proud of his accomplishments in the administration.

“More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history - and I know this movement is just getting started,” he said. “It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement.”

Means’ sister and co-author, Dr. Casey Means, was picked by Trump to be the next U.S. Surgeon General, but her nomination fell apart in April 2025 when GOP senators—needed to confirm her—objected to her vaccine positions.

The Surgeon General reversal was viewed as a big blow to the MAHA movement. The hiring of Dr. Means’ brother was a signal that Kennedy was still in touch with the MAHA base despite growing frustrations with a lack of progress in overhauling the U.S. food system.

Insiders told the Journal previously that White House officials often viewed Means as “overly aggressive” and intent on pushing unfeasible policies with no willingness to be flexible.

Means was hugely important in brokering the MAHA-MAGA alliance that gave President Donald Trump a late-campaign boost in the 2024 presidential election. The MAHA aide reportedly helped broker the initial call between Kennedy, then an independent presidential candidate, and Trump, which ended with the two men joining forces.

While his official time at HHS will be less than a year, having been hired in November 2025, Means was previously working as a special government employee at HHS until he divested from his company, Truemed.

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Josh FialloBreaking News Reporter

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