June 30, 2025 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has hired a Washington, D.C. farm policy insider who has lobbied against restrictions on pesticide use to serve as one of the country’s top pesticide regulators.
Kyle Kunkler starts today as the deputy assistant administrator for pesticides in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. He will be working alongside Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry executive.
“Mr. Kunkler has a wealth of experience in the agricultural sector, and the president made a great choice in selecting this highly qualified individual to advance EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment,” an EPA spokesperson said in an email responding to Civil Eats’ questions.
Kunkler most recently worked as director of government affairs, with a focus on pesticides, for the American Soybean Association. He lobbied members of Congress on pesticide policy and other farm topics as recently as earlier this year. At its 2020 annual meeting, CropLife America, the trade association that represents the country’s largest agrichemical companies, presented Kunkler with its “Rising Star Award.”
It’s not uncommon for pesticide-industry veterans and lobbyists to work at the EPA and other federal agencies, but President Trump has repeatedly vowed to “drain the swamp.” And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of pesticide use, has railed against industry influence within the federal government and promised specifically to reduce chemical exposures as part of his Make America Healthy Again movement.
In a press release, Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said Kunkler’s appointment represents a clear contradiction. “The appointment of Kyle Kunkler sends a loud, clear message: industry influence is back in charge at the EPA,” he said. “It’s a stunning reversal of the campaign promises Trump and RFK Jr. made to their MAHA followers—that they’d stand up to chemical giants and protect children from dangerous pesticides.”
In response to those accusations, the EPA spokerson accused previous administrations of having a revolving door with industry and being rife with ethics violations. “Every Trump political appointee works with the career employees in the EPA ethics office to ensure all applicable ethics obligations are addressed,” they said.
Last week, CropLife America President and CEO Alexandra Dunn also sent Kennedy a letter asking him to retract what she called “misleading and alarmist” statements about pesticides made in the MAHA Report and offering 17 policy recommendations to support the pesticide industry. Dunn was an administrator in the same EPA office in charge of chemical oversight during Trump’s first term. (Link to this post.)
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