Senate Panel Votes To Hold Fauci In Contempt

A Senate committee voted along party lines on Thursday to hold former Covid-19 czar Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8 to 7 on the contempt resolution. The panel’s chair, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Fauci should be held in contempt for refusing to answer questions about his role during the pandemic.

The legal path forward is now fraught. Paul has said he would like to skip a vote of the full Senate, which requires 60 votes to end a filibuster and needs Democratic support, and instead ask the Justice Department to prosecute the longtime civil servant.

During a contentious hearing last week, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer any questions. He said the move was necessary because Paul intended to goad him into saying something during the hearing to charge him with perjury.

Paul bristled over Fauci having received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden for his actions dating from 2014 to the end of Biden’s presidency. However, if Fauci perjured himself at the hearing he could be prosecuted for that.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel, said that Paul’s resolution could weaken the committee’s ability to conduct investigations as future witnesses will choose not to appear at all for fear of a contempt resolution.

He also said Paul should not send the contempt resolution directly to the Justice Department, which would bypass a full vote in the Senate.

“That would be even more dangerous and a widely unprecedented move,” Peters said.

Democrats put forward a variety of motions to table the vote based on different rationale.

Peters said the decision should be made by the full Senate, while Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire argued the senators should hear from legal exerts before voting. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the vote should be delayed in order to hear from Fauci's lawyer.

Those motions all failed along party lines.