Senate committee holds Anthony Fauci in contempt, refers him for prosecution

The Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. The move turned a combative hearing into a test of how far Congress can push former public-health officials over the federal response to COVID-19, and it left any enforcement in the hands of prosecutors.

Fauci refused to answer senators’ questions during a July 29, 2026 hearing on COVID-19 origins and the government’s pandemic response, invoking the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. Republicans pressed him on diary entries, past statements about the origins of the virus and the decisions made during the pandemic, arguing that his silence blocked congressional oversight.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the committee chairman, led the contempt push and had already referred Fauci to the Justice Department for potential criminal prosecution. The committee’s own notice set the contempt vote for Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and Democrats tried to delay the action before the panel moved ahead. The referral itself did not create a criminal case; it put the matter in the Justice Department’s hands, where prosecutors would decide whether to act.

Fauci’s lawyer said he was on “solid legal ground” after invoking the Fifth Amendment. Supporters of the former government scientist argued that the diary entries did not prove he lied and that scientific understanding of COVID-19 was still changing as the pandemic unfolded.

The dispute lands on one of the most prominent figures in the federal response to the virus. Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years and later served as the White House chief medical adviser. For Republicans who have spent years revisiting the federal pandemic response, the contempt vote marked a new escalation. For Fauci’s defenders, it was another sign that the inquiry had become as much about partisan punishment as public accountability.