Senate panel backs contempt move against Fauci
Apnews · 2 SOURCESabout 15 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A US Senate committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer questions about the US Covid-19 response and repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights at a hearing a week earlier. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the move along party lines at the urging of Republican chairman Rand Paul of Kentucky, a long-time Fauci critic. Paul argued that Fauci faced no federal criminal exposure because Joe Biden had granted him a pardon in January 2025, while Fauci said he still feared politically motivated prosecution and efforts to force incriminating statements. The case now turns to whether the referral reaches the Justice Department and whether a full Senate vote is legally required before any contempt process can proceed.
Key Points
- The committee vote came one week after Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during testimony before the Senate panel.
- Rand Paul said Fauci had no valid self-incrimination claim because Biden's pardon removed federal prosecution risk and Fauci had already testified.
- Fauci said Paul wanted him to say “something, anything” that could support the senator’s public pledges to see him “behind bars.”
- Biden issued a pre-emptive pardon in January 2025 covering Covid-19-related matters, though reports noted it would not shield later conduct
- A contempt referral usually goes from committee to the full Senate, where a 60-vote threshold would likely require Democratic backing
Why It Matters
The clash is testing the boundary between a witness’s constitutional right against self-incrimination and Congress’s power to compel testimony, especially when a presidential pardon is involved. It also reflects how the US pandemic response remains deeply politicised years after Fauci retired in 2022, with continuing battles over accountability, public health policy and partisan power