Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced the date of a vote to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The vote is scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 AM EDT.
“Dr. Fauci appeared under subpoena and invoked the Fifth Amendment to refuse answering questions. During the hearing, I ruled that the Fifth Amendment did not apply because of the pardon, and that Fauci had waived any remaining privilege by giving opening testimony,” Paul said. “I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused. That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly.”
According to the resolution, Fauci “concluded his prepared testimony by stating his intent to refuse to answer questions posed by the Committee, citing the right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.” It explains that despite Fauci receiving a presidential pardon in 2025, “Chairman Paul found the privilege of the Fifth Amendment unsupported as applied to questions pertaining to the period of the pardon and directed Dr. Fauci to answer.”
Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times during last week’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, declining to answer questions about his role in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Sen. Paul said during the hearing, “Because you refuse to answer citing a privilege that is unsupported…this committee has scheduled a vote next week on a resolution certifying your contempt.”
Previous reports indicated that the vote was scheduled for August 5.
