A recent study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) suggests that Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts to environmental rules clash with his own administration's promises. While the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pledged to "make America healthy again" and fix the childhood chronic disease crisis, the study finds that the administration's environmental policies may do the opposite.

Under administrator Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed several major changes. These include:

• Scrapping stricter rules for mercury and air toxins (MATS).
• Reducing limits on carbon pollution from power plants.
• Pushing back deadlines for companies to report methane leaks.
• Weakening the process for assessing chemical risks.
• Allowing industrial plants to apply for two-year waivers to bypass regulations.
• Challenging the 2009 "endangerment finding," the legal ruling that says greenhouse gases threaten public health.

The report argues these rollbacks will increase the amount of pollution children breathe or ingest. This includes exposure to soot, heavy metals, benzene, and hydrocarbons, all of which are linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, autism, and ADHD. Specifically, the study found that over 565,000 children live within three miles of a facility that has already received a regulatory exemption. Another 2 million children live near plants that are still eligible for these waivers.

An EPA spokesperson dismissed the report as "fake news," asserting that the agency continues to protect public health. However, report co-author Cathleen Kelly and critic Adam Finkel, along with some supporters of the "MAHA" (Make America Healthy Again) movement, argue these moves directly undermine the administration's health goals. These concerns have already led to petitions calling for Zeldin to be removed from his post.