Bayer promised to “provide a small thanks” to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin for removing warnings about Roundup, the company’s herbicide that has been the subject of tens of thousands of cancer lawsuits, according to internal emails revealed at a Congressional hearing Tuesday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said she obtained the emails, which were written by one of Zeldin’s senior advisors, through a Freedom of Information Act request. The emails, she said, show Zeldin has a conflict of interest with one of the world’s largest companies that has fought for years to not be held liable for its product.
The email from Zeldin’s senior advisor references a situation that started years ago, when California required the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, be labeled a known carcinogen. However, a federal appeals court struck down the warning.
Then, last year, the EPA updated its webpage on glyphosate and produced a letter stating it would not approve a label for Roundup that included the warning it causes cancer. Bayer used the letter in its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the company’s argument on Monday that it should have legal immunity from such claims.
“We have internal emails from your agency saying that Bayer wanted to thank you and your agency for removing support for California’s warning because their case before the Supreme Court hinges on you not warning the American people and withdrawing your support on glyphosate,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the Tuesday hearing. “Do you understand the conflict of interest that is before the American people right now, Mr. Zeldin?”
Zeldin did not directly respond and said his agency has a review of glyphosate coming out later this year.
The review is “taking a while because the Supreme Court is making decisions this week and Congress is voting this week on legal immunity,” Ocasio-Cortez told Zeldin, referring to the anticipated vote on the Farm Bill, which contains a clause shielding pesticide companies from legal liability.
“You made your point,” Zeldin replied.
The EPA told Investigate Midwest it has held “numerous introductory meetings over the past year as part of routine stakeholder engagement. The meeting (with Bayer) … was nothing more than a standard introductory meeting.”
The agency did not address a question about what the “small thanks” from Bayer was.
Bayer told Investigate Midwest that the “idea of a meeting with the EPA constituting a conflict of interest is ridiculous. While we can’t speak to the memo we didn’t write, as a company subject to regulatory oversight of its products, Bayer meets with agencies as a normal part of the regulatory process.”
Its statement said the line about “provid(ing) a small thanks” was simply intended as saying thank you to Zeldin.
“Our CEO thanked the EPA for updating its website to reflect the 9th Circuit ruling, concluding that California’s proposed cancer warning is misleading and unconstitutional,” the statement concluded.
Investigate Midwest asked Ocasio-Cortez’s office for the underlying emails Wednesday, but it did not receive an immediate response.
The emails presented at the hearing are very concerning, said Nathan Donley, the environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which advocates against pesticide use.
“These documents show the unfettered access one of (the) most powerful pesticide corporations in the world has to EPA’s top officials and it raises serious questions about just how far Trump’s political operatives within the EPA and the DOJ are willing to go to bat for Bayer,” Donley said in a statement to Investigate Midwest. “It’s disgusting that the EPA administrator is so accessible to the pesticide industry. He almost certainly wouldn’t give the time of day to the thousands of Americans suffering from cancers linked to glyphosate and other EPA-approved pesticides.”
Bayer has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to plaintiffs after juries found Roundup caused cancer. The company has continued to lobby state and federal officials for legal immunity from more claims. Bayer has maintained Roundup does not cause cancer.
The spraying of pesticides and herbicides continue to be linked to cancer. Earlier this year, Investigate Midwest found that pesticide use and cancer risk are correlated in America’s agricultural counties.
The emails revealed Tuesday also show, Ocasio-Cortez said, that Bayer wanted to discuss “Supreme Court action” with Zeldin at a July 7, 2025, meeting. Ocasio-Cortez also presented visitor logs showing the meeting on that day.
By the time of the meeting, Bayer had been trying to get a Supreme Court hearing on legal immunity for years. In 2022, the Biden administration asked the court not to hear Bayer’s appeal, according to The New Lede.
But in January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Bayer’s case. Along with the EPA’s letter, Bayer also cited an executive order from President Trump saying Roundup production needed to be increased.
When Ocasio-Cortez first asked Zeldin on Tuesday whether he had met with Bayer representatives to discuss a possible Supreme Court hearing on the cancer claims, he denied it.
“Have you ever participated in a meeting with Bayer where you discussed the legal or litigation issues that the company was facing?”
“No, I never did,” Zeldin replied. “My meeting with them was very brief and that topic did not come up.”
Ocasio-Cortez pressed Zeldin again: “You’re certain they didn’t bring up anything regarding your work?”
“I’m telling you, 100%, absolutely — maybe there was some brainstorming that was done beforehand of potential topics,” Zeldin said. “That topic was not brought up.”
When presented with the emails showing the topic of discussion was Bayer’s Supreme Court case, Zeldin reiterated, “it’s possible the team was doing brainstorming of potential topics.”
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