GOP senators vote to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking the Fifth during tense hearing

Fauci declined to answer senators’ questions over 100 times during last week’s hearing, angering Republican lawmakers who have targeted him for years.

Senate Republicans voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer lawmakers’ questions during a fiery hearing last week.

Fauci, who has been a target of the right since he served as a top health official during the Covid pandemic, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right during the hearing, explaining in his opening remarks that he believed Republicans would try to use his testimony to prosecute him.

Now, Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have pushed to do just that with the 8-5, party-line vote.

“We are voting on whether a witness who has received the benefit of a sweeping federal pardon can be ordered by this committee to answer questions and then defy that order without consequence,” committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in his opening statement at the meeting. Paul was referring to a pardon that then-President Joe Biden gave to Fauci and several others just prior to leaving office, which Biden said was to protect them from potential politically motivated prosecutions.

The committee can refer the contempt of Congress resolution directly to the Justice Department or request that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hold a full Senate vote. Paul said Wednesday that the “first thing we will do” if the resolution was approved would be to refer the matter to the Justice Department.