u.s. senate panel votes to hold anthony fauci in contempt of congress
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former nih director anthony fauci listens during a hearing with the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee on july 29, 2026 in washington, dc.
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a u.s. senate panel voted on thursday to hold former national institute of allergy and infectious diseases director anthony fauci in contempt of congress after he declined to answer its questions and accused its chair, sen. rand paul, of trying to entrap him.
the committee voted 8-7 to hold fauci in contempt after he repeatedly invoked his fifth amendment right not to testify last week in a hearing before the senate’s government oversight committee.
paul said if the committee voted to hold fauci in contempt, he would refer it to the u.s. justice department for potential prosecution.
“dr. fauci faced no risk of federal prosecution,” paul said ahead of thursday’s vote, per the washington post. “all he had to do was tell the truth.”
democratic michigan sen. gary peters said the contempt vote would harm the committee’s ability to conduct investigations in the future.
peters said the panel’s work “depends on the legitimacy of our investigations and a recognition by witnesses, courts and the public that congress is exercising its powers dutifully.”
“the contempt resolution before us today puts all of that at risk,” peters added.
wisconsin republican sen. ron johnson said he got a copy of fauci’s government phone from the trump administration on wednesday night ahead of the vote. he hoped the phone “will address many of the questions he refused to answer at last week’s hearing.
(l-r) chairman of the senate homeland security and governmental affairs senator rand paul and us senator gary peters, democrat from michigan prepare ahead of a senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs business meeting to consider pending calendar business on capitol hill in washington, dc, on august 6, 2026.
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what happens next?
ahead of the vote, paul vowed to send the committee’s recommendation to the justice department, which would bypass a full senate vote in a move that would set up a legal and political test for the trump administration.
paul said there’s little precedent for bypassing a full senate vote before asking the justice department to hand down contempt charges, a decision that could hinder any attempts at prosecution.
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“there is not a lot of precedent for a lot of this, but it isn’t law so there isn’t any exact procedure that it has to follow,” paul said in an interview with cnn. “it’s a referral, it’s a recommendation.”
paul said the committee’s referral would be hand-delivered to the attorney general and u.s. district court on thursday.
vice president jd vance, who has a constitutional role as president of the senate, will have to sign off on the committee’s circumvention of rules. from there, it would be up to the justice department to decide whether formal charges can be levied on fauci, something that likely will be challenged by his lawyers.
in a statement to nbc news, fauci’s lawyer, david schertler, said the vote was “a crude political stunt intended to punish dr. fauci for exercising his constitutional rights.”
“today’s resolution is a continuation of senator paul’s personal vendetta against dr. fauci, who spent 50 years in public health and has saved countless lives,” schertler said. “it is shameful and wrong that senator paul is abusing his power by trying to weaponize the justice department against an honourable public servant.”
why fauci?
paul and johnson have spent years criticizing fauci’s direction during the covid-19 pandemic, which included vaccine mandates and social distancing.
earlier this year, paul subpoenaed fauci, believing the former national institutes of health official wasn’t forthcoming about the alleged laboratory origins of covid-19, along with other pandemic-related matters, per the washington post.
fauci has denied the allegations made by paul, noting he’s participated in extensive interviews, including 21 hours of testimony in 2024 with a u.s. house subcommittee that was investigating the government’s response to the pandemic.
at the end of 2022, fauci left the u.s government, and then-president joe biden issued him a preemptive pardon before leaving office.
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