Senate Panel Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt After He Invokes Fifth Amendment Over 100 Times

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted along party lines on Wednesday to hold Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in contempt of Congress — escalating a months-long Republican campaign to compel the 85-year-old immunologist to answer questions about the origins of COVID-19 and the federal government's pandemic response.

Fifth Amendment Invoked More Than 100 Times

At a July 29 hearing, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times, refusing to answer questions from Republican senators about gain-of-function research funding, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans argued the refusals amounted to stonewalling.

The Biden Pardon at the Centre of the Dispute

Before leaving office, President Joe Biden issued a sweeping preemptive pardon for Fauci — along with a handful of other officials — covering any federal crimes committed between January 2014 and January 2025. Fauci's legal team argues that because he has been pardoned, he faces no jeopardy and therefore cannot be compelled to testify under the Fifth Amendment's protections.

Republican senators rejected that reasoning, arguing that a presidential pardon cannot excuse a witness from appearing before Congress and providing sworn testimony. The contempt referral will now be sent to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution.

Background: Republican Investigation into COVID Origins

Republicans in both the House and Senate have long sought to question Fauci about the origins of COVID-19, the funding of research at Chinese laboratories, and whether the National Institutes of Health contributed to conditions that may have led to the pandemic. Fauci has consistently denied that federally funded research constituted dangerous gain-of-function experiments.

"The American people deserve answers, and Dr Fauci's continued silence is an affront to the Congress and to the public he once served," said the committee chairman in a statement following the vote.

Fauci retired from his post in December 2022 after more than five decades in government service. He has repeatedly stated that the attacks on him are politically motivated.