House Republicans quietly inserted, and then just as quietly removed, a highly controversial provision from the 2026 Interior and Environment spending bill after a firestorm of public outrage exposed what critics called a blatant attempt to shield powerful chemical corporations from accountability.
Section 453 of H.R. 4754 would have blocked federal funding for the EPA to update pesticide labels, guidance, or policy if those updates differed in any way from prior health assessments, even when new science emerged showing increased risks.
After intense pressure from watchdog groups and conservative commentators, House leadership yanked the provision before the bill heads to the floor this week.
The now-removed language stated:
“SEC. 453. None of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to issue or adopt any guidance or any policy, take any regulatory action, or approve any labeling or change to such labeling that is inconsistent with or in any respect different from the conclusion of
(a) a human health assessment performed pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; or
(b) a carcinogenicity classification for a pesticide.”
In plain English: freeze pesticide labels in place, regardless of emerging science.
Critics warned this would allow manufacturers to argue in court that it was “impossible” to update warnings — effectively gutting failure-to-warn lawsuits and stripping families of legal recourse when harm occurs.
Children’s Health Defense led the charge, issuing an urgent warning that Section 453 would “wipe out your right to sue pesticide companies.”
Hellbound and Down 