The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he refused to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic and his previous testimony to Congress.
The committee voted 8-5 along party lines. All Republicans supported the contempt resolution, while all Democrats opposed it.
Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during a committee hearing the previous week, the New York Post reported.
Republicans sought answers about Fauci’s handling of the pandemic and his past testimony involving U.S.-funded “gain-of-function” research. They also planned to question him about research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the possibility that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory accident and the scientific basis for pandemic mitigation policies.
During the hearing, Fauci delivered a prepared opening statement before saying he would not answer questions. He then repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee chairman, argued that Fauci did not face a legitimate threat of federal prosecution because former President Joe Biden had granted him a preemptive pardon.
“Fauci faced no risk of federal prosecution. All he had to do was tell the truth,” Paul said before the vote. “More than 100 times, though, he refused.”
The pardon covered potential federal crimes committed between January 2014 and January 2025. Republicans also argued that Fauci’s decision to give an opening statement weakened his claim that he could refuse all subsequent questions under the Fifth Amendment.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) pointed to Fauci’s refusal to answer even basic questions, including the color of his tie.
“The fact that he wouldn’t answer questions about the tie he was wearing, or the color of the carpet, the day of the week … betrays the fact that his invocation of the Fifth Amendment wasn’t tailored to anything,” Hawley said.
Democrats disputed the committee’s action. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the panel’s top Democrat, said Republicans had not established a legal basis for holding Fauci in contempt.
Democrats also offered several unsuccessful motions to stop the resolution. One proposal from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) would have sought federal immunity for Fauci in exchange for testimony on COVID-19 matters. Blumenthal argued that Fauci had reason to fear prosecution because Paul had publicly called for him to be prosecuted.
Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, called the vote politically motivated and argued that Fauci was exercising a constitutional right. Peters also warned against referring the case to prosecutors without approval from the full Senate.
The committee hand-delivered the contempt resolution to the Justice Department after the vote. A Justice Department spokesperson told the New York Post that the department had received the document and was reviewing it.
If prosecuted and convicted of misdemeanor contempt of Congress, Fauci could face up to one year in prison.