05
Mar
USRTK Spotlights Bayer-Monsanto Ties to Trump Administration, as Company Pushes for Immunity from Lawsuits
(Beyond Pesticides, March 5, 2026) In a deep analysis of public records, U.S. Right to Know (USRTK), a nonprofit newsroom and public health research group, discloses significant financial ties between Bayer-Monsanto, lobbying firms, and the second Trump Administration, raising concerns about basic safeguards to curb corporate influence over federal policymakers.
The USRTK tracker and report, “Tracing Bayer’s ties to power in Trump’s Washington,†(see more) finds that there have been significant lobbying investments by the multinational pesticide corporation just in the past year, including:Â
- “At least $9.19 million on federal lobbying in [2025]â€;Â
-  “16 key administration officials with ties to Bayer’s lobbying or legal network. Bayer and its lobbyists have access to people in power at the White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and even those in high level positions closest to Trumpâ€;Â
- “45 people registered to lobby for Bayer under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, and at least 13 outside lobby firms – seven of which are now among the highest-paid firms in D.Câ€; and,Â
- “More than 30 senior officials at lobby firms retained by Bayer have direct ties to Trump, having worked in one or both of his administrations or political campaigns.â€Â
The report points out that the four main trade and agribusiness groups that promote and defend pesticide products (American Chemistry Council, CropLife America, National Corn Growers Association, and American Soybean Association) spent a “combined $22 million on federal lobbying in 2025, with 12 more outside lobby firms and 79 more registered lobbyists in the fourth quarter.â€
Environmental and public health advocates across the country continue to call for a wholesale transition to organically managed systems to provide an economically prosperous and ecologically healthy alternative to the toxic chemical-dependent status quo.
Main Takeaways
In terms of the web of lobbying firms partnered up with Bayer, there is a noticeable revolving door at work between industry, regulators, previous presidential campaign staffers, and Trump administration appointees, including Ballard Partners (founder and four partners), Mercury Public Affairs (four partners), Venture Government Strategies (two partners and two senior leadership), Holland & Hart, and Invariant, among several others. The individuals cited are well-placed policy advisors to the Trump Administration. The highlights include:
- Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners, was a major campaign fundraiser in the 2024 presidential election with over $50 million in contributions; Ballard also served on the 2024 inaugural and transition finance committees and previously served as a Florida lobbyist for the Trump Organization;
- Daniel McFaul, managing partner at Ballard, who served on the 2016-2017 presidential transition team and is a registered lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council;
- Bryan Lanza, partner at Mercury Public Affairs, was the communications director and deputy communications director for the 2016-2017 transition team and 2016 Trump-Pence campaign, respectively;
- Jonathan Blum, senior vice president at Venture Government Strategies, who served senior roles in the Treasury Department during the first and second Trump administrations, with a brief stint at Treasury under two different leadership roles through a significant portion of 2025 before joining the firm in December;
- Troy Lyons, senior director of federal affairs at Holland & Hart, who served various leadership roles in the EPA Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, including as “EPA’s chief liaison to Congress†in the first Trump Administration; and,
- Ken Barbic, principal of the Food and Agriculture Practice Group at Invariant, served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s assistant secretary for congressional relations from 2018 to 2021.
Additional notable ties between previous Republican Administrations, lobbying firms, and Bayer-Monsanto include Todd Strategy Group, Capitol Council, BGR Government Affairs, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, The Russell Group, HB Strategies, Washington Tax and Public Policy Group, and The Peterson Group.
Previous Coverage
On June 30, 2025, Kyle Kunkler started work as deputy assistant administrator for pesticides in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Mr. Kunkler is an experienced agribusiness lobbyist, having come directly from the American Soybean Association, where he was director of government affairs. He joins Nancy Beck, PhD, herself a migrant from the American Chemistry Council. Not coincidentally, a mere three weeks after Mr. Kunkler’s appointment, EPA opened the floodgates to allow use of the controversial herbicide dicamba to flow unrestricted once again through the nation’s ecosystems. (See Daily News here.)
As Beyond Pesticides and other organizations have been documenting for decades, there is a long history of independent, peer-reviewed scientific literature that has not been influenced by industry, in which deleterious effects from glyphosate are noted. Just this year, studies have connected glyphosate to human health threats, including DNA and cellular damage, female reproductive dysfunction, kidney injury and cancer, blood cancer, and endocrine disruption, among others. Â
Researchers at the University of Oregon found that the rollout of genetically engineered corn in the early 2000s, followed by exponential increases in glyphosate-based herbicides, “caused previously undocumented and unequal health costs for rural U.S. communities over the last 20 years.†Their results “suggest the introduction of GM [genetically modified] seeds and glyphosate significantly reduced average birthweight and gestational length.â€
The conclusions of this study emerge as fossil fuel advocates, including President Trump, are mobilizing to establish “energy dominance†despite the market movement toward renewable energy and organic land management. While chemical-intensive farmers and land managers rely on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic practitioners are experiencing the economic benefit of healthy ecosystems and ecosystem services, including the natural cycling of nutrients for plants. (See Daily News here.)
The ubiquitous nature of glyphosate residues throughout the environment and within organisms is a result of the widespread application of this toxic weed killer in forestry, agriculture, landscaping, and gardening. Both glyphosate and its main metabolite (breakdown product), aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), are detected in air, water, soil, and food, which results in multiple pathways for exposure to nontarget organisms, including humans. Over 750 herbicides contain glyphosate as the active ingredient (the ingredient in a pesticide formulation that the manufacturer claims is included to target the labeled pest), and it also plays a large role in the production of genetically modified (GM) crops, with approximately 80% of GM crops bred specifically to be glyphosate-tolerant. See the Gateway on Pesticide Hazards and Safe Pest Management for additional information on glyphosate and other pesticide active ingredients. (Note that pesticide formulations, not disclosed on the product label, are generally made up of mostly nondisclosed ingredients, known as “inert†or “other†ingredients, that can be highly toxic; see also here.)
In its 2019 report, Toxic Secret, Friends of the Earth found that foods sold by the top four U.S. food retailers — Kroger (NYSE: KR), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Costco (NYSE: COST), and Albertsons — contain residues of toxic pesticides linked to a range of serious health and environmental problems. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been detected in popular foods, including “100% pure†honey, Doritos, Oreos, Goldfish, Ritz Crackers, German beers, California wines, and UK bread. (See Daily News here.) A 2019 residue study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) found that 19 of 20 common beers and wines tested and sold in the United States contain glyphosate residues. (See Daily News here.)
The science on pesticide safety has been deeply politicized, given the controversy on glyphosate registration and litigation surrounding the active ingredient’s links to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. What was once considered a landmark study concluding that the weed killer glyphosate did not cause cancer was retracted last week after it was revealed in lawsuit documents that the authors did not disclose their relationship with Monsanto/Bayer. The editor-in-chief, Martin van den Berg, PhD of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, who published the article 25 years ago, wrote in the journal, “Concerns were raised regarding the authorship of this paper, validity of the research findings in the context of misrepresentation of the contributions by the authors and the study sponsor, and potential conflicts of interest of the authors.†(See Daily News here.)
In a study published in Poultry Science, researchers found adverse reproductive effects in roosters (Gallus gallus domesticus) from low-dose exposure to the fungicide tebuconazole, the insecticide imidacloprid, and glyphosate individually and in mixtures—with all concentrations at or below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) established by the European Union. “Sub-MRL [sub-maximum residue limit] pesticide exposure impaired male reproductive function, with the most pronounced effects observed following combined treatments,†the authors report. They continue: “[E]xposure resulted in reduced semen quality, decreased fertility and hatchability, and increased embryo mortality, particularly in groups receiving [imidacloprid] alone or in combination. These functional impairments were accompanied by detectable pesticide residues in reproductive tissues and body fluids, as well as modulation [modification/alteration] of local and systemic immune parameters.†(See Daily News here.)
In the aftermath of the 2015 decision by the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization designating glyphosate as “probably†carcinogenic (see Daily News here), a research project published in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) determined that glyphosate acts as a glycine analogue that incorporates into peptides during protein synthesis. In this process, it alters a number of proteins that depend on conserved glycine for proper function. According to the authors, glyphosate substitution for glycine correlates with several diseases, including diabetes, obesity, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson’s disease, among others. (See Daily News here.)
Invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950
On February 18, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order (EO) that could provide blanket legal protection for all liability associated with the use of glyphosate. By activating the Defense Production Act of 1950 and its immunity from lawsuits provision for glyphosate manufacturers, the administration could mandate production of glyphosate as a “national security†concern and provide blanket legal protection for its activities and resulting harm. (See Daily News.)
Nothing in the President’s executive order appears to meet the intent of the statute and its stated purpose to protect “the ability of the domestic industrial base to supply materials and services for the national defense and to prepare for and respond to military conflicts, natural or man-caused disasters, or acts of terrorism within the United States . . .†Without any supporting documentation or findings, the executive order states: “There is no direct one-for-one chemical alternative to glyphosate-based herbicides. Lack of access to glyphosate-based herbicides would critically jeopardize agricultural productivity, adding pressure to the domestic food system, and may result in a transition of cropland to other uses due to low productivity.  Given the profit margins growers currently face, any major restrictions in access to glyphosate-based herbicides would result in economic losses for growers and make it untenable for them to meet growing food and feed demands.â€
Organic farmers and the companies in the $70 billion organic sector do not agree with this broad, unsupported statement in the executive order.
Call to Action
The best way to get started is by taking action, including with the current deliberations on the Farm Bill. >> In order to uphold fundamental protections from pesticides for farmers, consumers, and the environment, tell your Congressional representative to support Rep. Pingree’s Protect Our Health Amendment (removes Sections 10205-10207), move to strike Sections 10201-10204 and 102011, and support the No Immunity for Glyphosate Act provisions. Without a comprehensive overhaul, urge a vote against the Farm Bill.
If you have already contacted your U.S. Representative on the Farm Bill in the past two weeks, please click HERE to send them a reminder, in light of the postponement and the new date for a committee vote on March 3! *If a member is on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, the letter you submit will automatically adjust the language by recognizing their Committee membership.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Source: U.S. Right to Know
