The Groups Backing Rfk Jr. Are Running Low On Cash

Leaders of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement say they’ll help Republicans stay in power – but they’ve got little money to do it.

Last month, Tony Lyons, the ally of the health secretary who runs the MAHA PAC, said he’d raise $100 million to support Republicans, bolstering President Donald Trump’s view that MAHA voters will help Republicans maintain their majorities in Congress this year.

But a POLITICO analysis of MAHA PAC and the only other active political action committee aligned with the movement, a linked Super PAC, found they have just over $412,000 in available cash.

What money they have raised has largely come from the pharma industry, whose clout in Washington Kennedy has decried for decades.

The MAHA PAC, whose mission is to “elect Republicans to the House and Senate who will champion the MAHA agenda,” received only 37 donations since January 2025, POLITICO found, totaling around $1.5 million. That’s about 1 percent of what the Republican Party’s fundraising arm, WinRed, spent last month.

Almost ninety percent of donations came from just 10 entities, half of whom have ties to the drug industry. The poor fundraising raises questions about whether Kennedy’s allies have the wherewithal to bring out the vote.

“It’s hard to actually refer to MAHA as a movement when you're looking at just a small number of donors providing the vast majority of financial support,” said Devin Burghart, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a nonprofit watchdog that studies conservative groups.

The MAHA PAC reported only three donations so far in 2026 — two $50,000 contributions from Venni Capital, a little-known New York investment firm whose address links to the headquarters of Chartwell Pharmaceuticals, a generic drug manufacturer and compounding pharmacy that has secured hundreds of millions in contracts with the federal government. Chartwell did not respond to requests for comment.

The third donation came from Botanic Tonics, a kratom and kava beverage company that donated $500,000 in March — the largest donation in the past year and one that follows Kennedy’s crackdown on some kratom-related products last year.

Six of MAHA PAC’s largest donors last year came from entities with interests in biopharma, including OPS International, which sells weight-loss drugs and other wellness products that haven’t received government approval under the name Olympia Pharmaceuticals; biotech firms owned by Lou Reese, a Kennedy ally; and LucyRx, a small pharmacy benefit manager that negotiates drug prices for insurers. Lawmakers have targeted PBMs with recent legislation aimed at lowering drug prices by cutting the middlemen’s fees.

Lyons, who also leads MAHA’s network of nonprofits, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Botanic Tonics said in a statement that its donation does not reflect its political affiliation. “Botanic Tonics supports initiatives that advance consumer transparency and work to remove artificial ingredients and synthetic chemicals from the American food supply,” the company said.

Given Kennedy’s animus toward the drug industry — he’s repeatedly accused pharmaceutical companies of buying off regulators and selling unsafe products — some see the donations as an effort to win him over.

At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) questioned Kennedy on MAHA PAC’s industry ties, calling the PAC a “moral and ethical mess.”

Kennedy dismissed the accusations of influence peddling. “I have no idea what companies are making any donations. I have no idea who’s giving money to them,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department reiterated the message in a statement to POLITICO. “Secretary Kennedy has no affiliation with these organizations and remains focused on advancing President Trump’s agenda,” the spokesperson wrote, citing Trump’s effort to lower drug prices and revitalize rural health as examples.

Behind the money

Companies in biopharma were behind a significant portion of MAHA PAC’s $1.5 million in donations, making up more than 40 percent of contributions last year, more than any other sector.

The top biopharma donation came in two contributions totaling $110,000 from an address in Texas shared by Jack Green Group, an investment firm with stakes in biotech, and United Biomedical, which is developing a Covid-19 vaccine and drugs for Alzheimer’s disease under the entity Vaxxinity. Both Jack Green Group and United Biomedical are led by Lou Reese, who went on a Christmas ski trip with Kennedy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the Rocky Mountains last year.

Other top donors include makers of peptides and compounded drugs. OPS International, which operates as Olympia Pharmaceuticals, donated $100,000 at the end of July. Olympia’s chief executive, Mark Mikhael, joined the board of Lyons’ MAHA PAC less than two months later, and Chief Financial Officer Joshua Fritzler spoke at a closed-door MAHA Summit in November, which was attended by Vice President JD Vance, Kennedy, and other top Health and Human Services officials. Patients for Fair Pharma, which pushes for access to compounded products, donated $13,000 last year.

Kennedy is a self-declared fan of peptides and recently promised to make over a dozen of the amino acids more accessible on a podcast with Joe Rogan. The popularity of peptides has created a surge in demand for compounding pharmacies, which make custom medications with FDA-approved ingredients.

The donations coincide with record lobbying spending from the health care industry in Washington as companies rush to capitalize on and avoid damage from the Trump administration’s overhaul of the nation's health policies. Other top health care donors include the pharmacy benefit manager LucyRx, which donated $40,000 last year; Payer Matrix, a drug payment assistance provider that donated $35,000; and Northwest Biotherapeutics, which is developing cancer vaccines and also donated $30,000. Its chief executive, Linda Powers, also donated $5,000 to former Kennedy aide Del Bigtree’s MAHA Values PAC last year.

Another $2,000 donation to MAHA PAC came from Bethany Hall-Long, a longtime Delaware Democrat and elected official who served for two weeks as the state’s governor last year. It came from the same Pennsylvania address as Payer Matrix. Bryan Gordon, a spokesperson for Hall-Long, told POLITICO Hall-Long has no affiliation with Payer Matrix and suggested the address entry to be a Federal Election Commission data error. Jennifer Hoefner, chief executive of Payer Matrix, did not respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

Some donors have intensified their lobbying efforts alongside their political contributions. Last spring, Chartwell Pharmaceuticals, whose address was behind Venni Capital’s $100,000 donation to MAHA PAC, hired Rubin, Turnbull and Associates, a lobbying shop that counts Caroline Wiles, daughter of Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, among its leaders. Last summer, Vivex Biologics, a skin substitutes company that has donated $70,000 to MAHA PAC since December 2024, hired Continental Strategy, another Trump-connected firm, to lobby.

Skin substitutes, which are used in wound treatment, were the source of a major lobbying battle in Washington last year as the Trump administration zeroed in on the industry as part of its crackdown on fraud. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services scaled back its Medicare reimbursement rate for skin substitutes in October but quietly withdrew a provision in December that would have removed coverage for 158 skin substitute products, including those of Vivex Biologics.

In addition to MAHA PAC, previously known as the American Values 2024 PAC, POLITICO reviewed campaign finance disclosures for three other MAHA political action committees for this story: the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) super PAC, MAHA Values, and MAHA Alliance, which together brought in around $128,000 in donations since January 2025.

The scale and cast of top donors differ sharply from the 2023-2024 election cycle, when contributions to MAHA spending groups were dominated by MAGA donors, including Timothy Mellon, who donated over $25 million, and Elon Musk, who donated $3 million, as well as close allies of Kennedy, like Gavin de Becker, Kennedy’s security specialist and Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s former presidential running mate.

Some major donors later secured favorable decisions or appointments from the Trump administration. Trevor Milton, who donated $750,000 to the MAHA Alliance PAC and $920,000 to the Trump 47 presidential campaign committee in 2024, had his securities fraud conviction pardoned by Trump. Patricia Duggan, who donated $1 million to MAHA Alliance and several million to Trump fundraising committees in the 2024 election cycle, was appointed to the board of the Kennedy Center, and a $200,000 MAHA PAC donation from a contributor called Bison Valley in March 2024 shares an address with a location linked to Robbins Research International, the research and marketing arm of wellness influencer Tony Robbins, who was appointed to a new advisory group in the Health and Human Services Department this year.

MAHA Values and MAHA Alliance shut down at the end of last year after Bigtree, who worked on Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign, stepped down from MAHA Action, the nonprofit arm. MAHA-affiliated committees have been shuffling funds recently to MAHA Action, which is now helmed by Lyons and shares the same address as MAHA Values, Skyhorse Publishing, Lyons’ publishing house, and until March, MAHA PAC. Since December, MAHA PAC has channeled nearly $2 million in funds to MAHA Action, which given its 501(c)(4) nonprofit status must spend less than half of its budget on political activities and does not have to disclose its donors. In addition to MAHA Action, Lyons also runs the nonprofits MAHA Center and MAHA Institute.

MAHA PAC has already committed $1 million to help Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow’s Senate campaign against incumbent, and Kennedy critic, Bill Cassidy. They face off in a GOP primary next month.

According to MAHA Institute’s most recent filing in 2024, the nonprofit had $1.3 million in income, while MAHA Action’s 2025 filing showed the nonprofit was in the red by $185,000. Dylan Weber, MAHA Action’s communications assistant, said the negative income was a result of the leadership change from Bigtree to Lyons, who formed a new entity to operate MAHA Action called MAHA Action Inc and will file a separate income statement. Weber did not respond to POLITICO’s additional questions about the group’s finances or campaign strategy.

MAHA PAC has given less than $335,000, total, to support political candidates or committees since January 2025. Nearly all of this spending started in March, when MAHA PAC spent $308,000 on mailers and digital campaigns in Letlow’s race against Cassidy.

The PAC has invested heavily in public affairs and messaging supporting Kennedy and his agenda across a fragmented media landscape. X, formerly known as Twitter, benefited the most, taking in more than $800,000 from MAHA-affiliated spending groups last year. Marketing and communications made up about a quarter of its overall spending. Among the highest paid individuals by MAHA PAC were influencers Caitlin Sinclair, who was paid $72,500 last year, and Holden Culotta, who received more than $51,000.

Culotta, who boasts nearly 150,000 followers on X, told POLITICO he was hired to create content for MAHA PAC’s X account, but hasn’t worked with it or any affiliated organizations since August.

In February, MAHA Center paid for a Super Bowl ad that featured the boxer Mike Tyson promoting Kennedy’s new dietary guidelines and urging Americans to “Eat Real Food.”

“To build a movement, you have to educate people to help them realize, ‘Wait a minute, I want to be a part of that,’” said Bigtree. “We overcame a huge gap because we knew how to use social media better than the usual players did.”

In Washington, MAHA PAC’s favorite places include Ned’s Club, where memberships start at $5,000 and where MAHA PAC spent around $155,000 last year. Other top hangouts for the group were The Jefferson Hotel and Maestro’s Steakhouse, which is a 15-minute walk from the White House and last year reintroduced beef tallow, a MAHA favorite, to some menu items.

Traditional bedfellows

Donations to MAHA-affiliated PACs also came from regenerative farmers, vaccine skeptics, and alternative medicine practitioners.

Kennedy is a longtime skeptic of vaccine safety and founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense. He has endorsed alternative medicine, such as peptides, chelating compounds and dietary supplements, as an alternative to prescription drugs. He’s also spoken favorably of regenerative farming as a way of reducing pesticides and other chemicals in the environment.

Abby Rockefeller, the eldest daughter of Peggy and former Chase bank Chairman David Rockefeller, contributed $60,000 last year after donating $600,000 in the previous election cycle. Abby Rockefeller owns Churchtown Dairy, which promotes regenerative farming. She ranks among the top ten donors to MAHA PAC in 2025 alongside entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, who donated $50,000 and has supported environmental causes, including the Kennedy-founded organization Waterkeeper Alliance.

Leigh and Alicia Merinoff of Meadows Bee Farm, a regenerative farm in Vermont, contributed $35,000 last year to MAHA PAC and MAHA Values. Leigh Merinoff sits on the board of Children’s Health Defense and is a board member of MAHA Action.

“[Kennedy] is doing his best. I’m very supportive of his efforts,” said Claire Dwoskin, a former Democrat who contributed around $5,200 last year to MAHA Values and founded the Children's Medical Safety Research Institute, which has questioned the safety of vaccines.

The Trump administration has tasked Kennedy with promoting his MAHA policies in states with some of the most competitive races this year.

That push arrives as the White House recalibrates its messaging on MAHA, focusing on topics with broad appeal like nutrition and lower drug prices and backing away from more divisive issues, like vaccines.

Some donors said they are ready to turn out and defend the MAHA agenda.

“[Kennedy’s] been the best person to bring some trust and some certainty back, and I will support him. Anybody that would want to oust him, Democrat or Republican, I would actually vote against them,” said Patrick Flynn, a chiropractor and founder of Wellness Way, which donated $50,000 to MAHA Alliance at the end of 2024. Flynn is against vaccine mandates and an upcoming event he’s planning on leadership and longevity is sponsored by Children’s Health Defense.

MAHA supporters have experienced a string of setbacks in recent months. In February, Trump signed an executive order to boost the production of glyphosate, an herbicide commonly known as Roundup. MAHA advocates have pushed for a ban, arguing it causes cancer. Last month, a federal judge blocked Kennedy’s move to reduce the number of vaccines the government recommends children get.

At POLITICO’s Health Care Summit on Tuesday, senior White House adviser Calley Means, a long-time fixture in the MAHA movement, defended the executive order and blamed industry lobbyists for stalling reforms. “There’s a lot of money predicated on change not happening,” he said.

Means also reaffirmed MAHA’s alliance with Trump’s MAGA base going into the midterms. “Even the people who have been critical of the administration, they are all in for this administration.”

Some donors, however, have chafed at MAHA’s approach to policies, which has broken from GOP orthodoxy by requiring more government intervention into company practices. “The intent is moving in the right direction…The methods I don’t really support,” said Chris Rufer, who founded The Morning Star Company, a tomato processor in California. A prominent libertarian, Rufer donated $600,000 to MAHA PAC and the MAHA Alliance PAC in 2024.

Others are worried the MAHA groups’ alliance with Republicans will backfire.

“It’s about making America healthy… I don't care what they identify as,” said Dorena Rode, a California resident who used to phone bank for the Democratic Party. Rode donated $4,000 to MAHA PAC in 2024.

The POLITICO Poll in March found some of MAHA’s top priorities had broad support from both parties. More than two-thirds of voters that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election supported taking on big pharmaceutical companies, compared to 73 percent of Trump voters, the poll found.

Majorities of Harris and Trump voters also supported federal interventions on MAHA priorities to improve nutrition, including a ban on artificial food dyes and restricting the advertising of junk food to children. The POLITICO Poll included 3,851 U.S. adults and was conducted by Public First.

Mike Papantonio, a senior partner at personal injury law firm Levin Papantonio who once co-hosted a radio show with Kennedy, cautioned the movement against supporting one party, and urged Democrats not to overlook MAHA issues.

“It's dangerous for MAHA to get too centered on just Republicans. I think it's very dangerous for Democrats to continue their shallow simpleton thinking that any offshoot of Trump, such as MAHA, may be a bad thing,” said Papantonio, who donated $10,000 to MAHA PAC in July and plans to donate another $20,000 this year.