Trump's EPA Continues Biden Admin Appeal of Historic Fluoride Ruling

Written by Derrick Broze

While claiming to support the MAHA movement, the EPA under Trump has now taken steps to undo last year's historic ruling which found that fluoride poses a risk to the neurodevelopment of children.

On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency officially appealed a federal court ruling which ordered the agency to take action against the risks posed by fluoridation chemicals.

The EPA staked their appeal on three main arguments, including a belief that the plaintiffs' lack standing, the judge improperly considered new evidence, and the district court went beyond its authority in its management of the case.

The EPA's appeal is the latest development in a nearly decade-long legal saga between the EPA, and parents of children impacted by water fluoridation, as well as the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). The lawsuit began following the EPA’s 2016 decision to deny the plaintiff’s petition under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In September 2024, Judge Edward Chen found that fluoridation of water at 0.7 milligram per liter “poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children”.

Chen said the risk is sufficient to require the EPA to enact a regulatory response. However, he said that TSCA only granted him the authority to direct the EPA to take action against the risk, but not to prescribe the specifics of its response, which could range from a national warning to an outright ban.

In the final days of the Biden administration the EPA filed their appeal, and now, under leadership appointed by President Donald Trump, the EPA has decided to continue fighting the judge's ruling.

(Link to the Trump admin appeal: https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-EPA-Appeal-July-18th.pdf)

The EPA contends that at least one of the plaintiffs' water contains naturally occurring fluoride and thus they cannot prove injury as a result of community water fluoridation. The agency also claims that the Judge's decision to allow studies which were published after the original 2016 TSCA petition violated the act.

“The district court violated TSCA Section 21 by permitting Plaintiffs to rely on evidence not first presented to EPA in the petition and reviewed by EPA in denying the petition. The court’s final merits ruling overwhelmingly relied on voluminous evidence that did not even exist at the time of the original petition," the EPA and Department of Justice wrote in their appeal.

Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the Fluoride Action Network and plaintiffs, said the EPA is arguing the court should have ignored relevant science published after 2016.

"I think most people would find that to be at odds with the public interest at stake here. We should be having decisions made in 2024 that reflect the science that is in existence in 2024," Connett told The Last American Vagabond (TLAV).

"The court should not have had to bury its head in the sand and act like all this new research didn't exist."

The EPA also argues that Judge Chen "commandeered" the trial by not ruling after the close of evidence during the first phase of the trial in 2020.

Supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, spearheaded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., have been critical of the EPA's decision to appeal the federal court ruling. Especially after Kennedy and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin held a press conference in April announcing the agency’s decision to "expeditiously review" new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. Kennedy also said he would instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop promoting water fluoridation.

Notably, Zeldin and Kennedy did not mention the fluoride lawsuit in their press release or during their press conference.

However, Michael Connett believes public pressure on the EPA and the Trump administration may have an impact.

"It's important for us to know that they can withdraw this appeal any day, anytime. So it is worth it for people to express their anger and discontent to this administration and to ask them to stand down on this appeal," Connett said. "If EPA was to announce that they are withdrawing this appeal, boom, the judge's ruling is final, and then we would move to a rulemaking proceeding where we could actually get a ban on water fluoridation."

While some MAHA supporters may have been surprised by the EPA's appeal, TLAV has previously reported on the Trump administration's multiple requests for extension so they could decide if they would proceed with the appeal. In that reporting we noted that the final decision was in the hands of U.S. Solicitor General.

The U.S. Solicitor General is D. John Sauer, the former Solicitor General of Missouri from 2017 to 2023. Sauer is most well known for being the lawyer who represented Trump in his successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. United States. In that case, Sauer argued that U.S. Presidents have broad immunity for actions taken while in office, including ordering SEAL Team 6 to assassinate political rivals.

“Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, who was not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution?,” a judge asked Sauer in January 2024. Sauer responded with a “qualified yes”, noting that a President would first “have to be impeached and convicted”.

Unfortunately, the fact that Donald Trump's EPA is deciding to appeal a court ruling rather than seek a ban or limiting of public exposure to fluoridation chemicals is only the latest in a recent string of betrayals for the MAHA movement.

In the 6 months since Donald Trump came into office, the Food and Drug Administration has approved three separate mRNA injections, most recently COVID injections for 6 month old children. HHS Secretary Kennedy has also sent mixed signals regarding his position on vaccines, calling for studying the connection between vaccines and autism, as well as promoting the MMR injection which he previously campaigned against. Just this week the House of Representatives approved a measure which would keep the EPA from labeling pesticides.

While each of these decisions are not directly the responsibility of Kennedy, they do highlight how the Trump administration is not united on the MAHA agenda. Unfortunately for the American people, that means continued exposure to toxins like pesticides and fluoride.

TLAV will continue to follow the developments in the fluoride lawsuit.