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Senate Panel Moves to Hold Anthony Fauci in Contempt After Repeated Fifth Pleas

The vote could force courts to decide whether President Biden’s 2025 pardon removes a witness’s Fifth Amendment privilege.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci is sworn in before testifying to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Fauci was expected to be questioned about his diary entries during his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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)
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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Committee Chairmain Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is shown on a monitor as former NIH Director Anthony Fauci (L) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Fauci was expected to be questioned about his diary entries during his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Overview

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times while testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, July 29, and declined to answer questions about the COVID-19 response.
  • Committee chair Sen. Rand Paul scheduled a committee vote this week to approve a contempt resolution and said he will refer the matter to the Justice Department if the panel backs the citation.
  • Republicans argue the January 19, 2025 presidential pardon strips Fauci of the privilege against self-incrimination for covered federal conduct, but legal experts and Fauci’s lawyers dispute that claim and point to open questions about perjury and waiver.
  • Several Republican state attorneys general in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Oklahoma have opened or expanded state-level probes that are not blocked by a federal pardon and could expose Fauci to state charges.
  • The dispute was driven in part by the public release of more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary, which raised oversight questions about recordkeeping and provided the factual basis for Republicans’ demand for testimony.