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7h ago

Senate Panel Holds Anthony Fauci in Contempt of Congress

Republican leaders plan to send the committee’s referral to the Justice Department, a move likely to trigger court fights over the reach of a 2025 presidential pardon.

Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and medical advisor to several U.S. presidents, attends a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
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Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Dr. Anthony Fauci waits for the start of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2026.

Overview

  • An 8-5, party-line vote by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday advanced a contempt citation after Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment repeatedly during a July 29 hearing.
  • Committee Republicans say President Biden’s January 2025 preemptive pardon removed Fauci’s risk of federal prosecution and thus required him to answer questions, while Democrats counter that state prosecutions and other legal risks kept the Fifth valid.
  • The committee obtained new materials for its inquiry when the Department of Health and Human Services transferred a copy of Fauci’s pandemic-era cellphone to Republican investigators, adding to more than 1,000 pages of diary entries already released.
  • Chairman Sen. Rand Paul said he will send the referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington rather than waiting for a full-Senate vote, which raises novel procedural questions about congressional referrals to prosecutors.
  • Separate Republican state investigations in Florida, West Virginia and Louisiana continue and are not barred by the federal pardon, so observers expect litigation over how the pardon, compelled testimony, and parallel state probes interact.