GOP Promotes MAHA Agenda in Bid To Avert Midterm Losses. Dems Point to Contradictions.

When a “Make America Healthy Again” summit was held at the posh Waldorf Astoria in Washington, the line of attendees stretched down the block.

The one-day, invitation-only event in November featured a who’s who of MAHA luminaries. Vice President JD Vance was there, as was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the ad hoc movement whose members denounce vaccines, big pharmaceutical companies and ultra-processed foods.

In a fireside chat streamed online by organizers, Vance touted MAHA’s impact on the Trump administration, calling it “a critical part of our success in Washington.”

The summit underscored how closely Republicans have attached themselves to the MAHA campaign, banking on its popularity to give them an electoral rebound in the midterms. But that strategy carries risks, as support for Kennedy plummets and polls show voters care more about reducing health care costs than MAHA priorities such as ending vaccine mandates and promoting raw milk.

“The polls clearly show that MAHA issues are not people’s top concerns,” said Robert Blendon, professor emeritus of health policy and policy analysis at Harvard University. “The biggest issue on the ballot when it comes to health care is cost, and costs are actually rising. »

The disconnect was on display on Nov. 12, the day of the MAHA Summit, where attendees collected goody bags and mingled amid the hotel’s blue velvet sofas and crystal chandeliers.

Just blocks from the White House, President Donald Trump signed legislation that day to reopen the federal government. The 43-day shutdown focused on a disagreement over the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Democrats wanted to extend and GOP congressional leaders refused to accept. The government returned to business, and amid a political and legislative push, those subsidies expired at the end of 2025. That has fueled the national debate over affordability, as many of the roughly 24 million people who buy coverage on marketplaces governed by the health law now face premium payments more than double what they faced last year. In January, Congress continues to grapple with what has emerged as a key kitchen table issue.

Blendon said: “MAHA does not cut costs. »

MAHA was incorporated into the policy platform adopted by Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist who ran for president in 2023 and 2024. When he suspended his campaign and supported Trump, Kennedy united MAHA with conservatives, marrying the “health freedom” movement with MAGA.

But the movement took root before that, during the Covid pandemic, based on the idea that the United States is in the grip of an epidemic of chronic disease caused by corruption in the food, medical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as federal agencies. Some members are also skeptical or opposed to vaccines.

“Covid has been really eye-opening for people,” said Andrea Nazarenko, a psychologist and MAHA supporter who co-wrote a book on food as medicine. “They realized, ‘Wait a minute, the systems I trusted may not be as reliable as I thought.’ Deep down, people notice that the systems they relied on aren’t working for them.

MAHA has since become an influential force for the GOP, gaining significant influence in a short time. Case in point: Earlier this month, Kennedy announced new dietary guidelines and updated childhood vaccine recommendations that were both part of the movement’s wish list and a departure from existing frameworks.

Additionally, members of Congress founded a MAHA caucus. Republican-led state lawmakers are introducing or passing legislation to advance the MAHA agenda, including laws to restrict mRNA vaccines or ban certain food additives. And food manufacturers, including Nestlé, General Mills and Kraft Heinz, have committed to removing artificial colors and additives.

Republicans view the MAHA district as a critical building block for the 2026 midterm elections and beyond. His supporters include desirable voting demographics — independents and some Democrats, many of whom are women, younger voters or suburbanites. About 21% of independent voters and 8% of Democratic voters had a favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of MAHA as of early fall, according to a poll by Change Research.

“I think one of the reasons I got re-elected was because I stood up for the covid vaccine injured and was an ally of Bobby Kennedy back in the day when he was being vilified,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “People appreciated that. It’s a basic health issue.”

Republicans are counting on a rebound in MAHA, and political analysts say they may need it. The party was defeated in statewide elections in November, and Trump’s approval rating fell from 47% in early 2025 to 36% in December, according to Gallup polls. These are worrying trends for the Republican Party, as the presidential party has lost ground in 20 of the last 22 midterm congressional elections.

Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to threaten the Make America Great Again coalition and the massive support Trump has enjoyed from Republicans on Capitol Hill. While MAGA shows signs of weakening, MAHA is thriving.

“Kennedy ratified the Republican agenda on health and nutrition,” said David Mansdoerfer, who led HHS during the first Trump administration. “We’re very similar to the Democrats’ problems in the 1990s and 2000s. We’ve almost done a 180 and co-opted an issue as part of a Republican agenda.”

Kennedy is expected to soon remove another item from MAHA’s list by pressuring states to remove fluoride from water supplies, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

But Republicans’ embrace of MAHA ahead of November’s midterm elections could also cost them, political strategists say.

Polls show popular support for MAHA’s initiatives, such as removing synthetic colors from foods, but voters are far less enthusiastic about Kennedy and his denunciations of vaccines and efforts to limit access to them. Nearly 60% of adults disapprove of his job leading HHS, according to a poll released in October by KFF, a nonprofit health news organization that includes KFF Health News.

And just 26% of registered voters support delaying funding for mRNA vaccine research, according to a September survey by the left-leaning pollster Navigator Research. In the same poll, 3 in 4 people said they felt positive about the measles vaccine.

Yet the Trump administration has broadened and accelerated its attack on vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official said in a memo in November that the agency would review vaccine regulations, saying without evidence that at least 10 children had died from covid shots.

In December, a federal vaccine advisory committee hand-picked by Kennedy voted to stop recommending routine vaccination of newborns against hepatitis B. Medical groups have denounced the committee’s actions, saying the vaccine is safe and that the recommendation would lead to more infections with the virus, which causes severe liver damage.

Democrats see an opening. The Democratic Doctors Caucus, a group of congressional doctors, issued a statement condemning the change in the federal hepatitis B vaccine advisory committee’s recommendation, calling it an attack on basic science. And Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Diana DeGette of Colorado and Yvette Clarke of New York wrote to the FDA commissioner demanding data from the agency on claims of covid deaths.

Highlighting the risks of the Trump administration’s anti-vaccine initiatives is only part of Democrats’ action plan to counter the Republicans’ alliance with MAHA.

The strategists outline three goals: exposing GOP policies that run counter to MAHA priorities; trumpet Democrats’ efforts to tackle health care costs; and highlight their own party’s work on MAHA goals, such as cracking down on pesticide manufacturers.

“If people want to be healthier, they need affordable health care, and Democrats are the only ones pushing for affordable health care,” said CJ Warnke, communications director for the House Majority PAC, a fundraising group that works to elect more Democrats.

Most notably, the strategy so far has not really involved attacks on Kennedy or MAHA itself.

“If Democrats focus on attacking Kennedy, saying he’s crazy and has a brain worm, some voters hear that as reinforcing the idea that Democrats are tied to big pharma and big agriculture,” said Justin Zorn, a senior adviser at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive nonprofit focused on economic policy.

So Democrats will talk about their continued fight to lower health care costs, such as with a possible retroactive fix to now-expired ACA subsidies, or a bill from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to prevent pesticide makers from gaining legal immunity from health claims. And they plan to discuss actions by the Trump administration that appear to run counter to the MAHA program, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to relax health assessments of cancer-causing formaldehyde.

“Everything they do is making people sicker with higher bills, dirtier air and fewer people covered by insurance,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. “Democrats need to take MAHA seriously and cannot ignore it. The key is to show that Democrats are focused on health and health care and to expose what the Republican agenda means.”

For Republicans, the next round of MAHA events and summits are already scheduled. After taking a back seat in recent years, health care could dominate the 2026 elections.