US Senate committee declares Fauci in contempt of Congress after 100+ Fifth Amendment pleas

Committee vote

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-7 along party lines on 6 August 2026 to declare Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The vote, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed, came one week after Fauci appeared before the same committee on 29 July and invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times, refusing to answer questions about his role in the Covid-19 pandemic response. Committee chair Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky had warned that there would be consequences for the refusal to testify.

The Fifth Amendment dispute

Paul argued that the constitutional protection against self-incrimination did not apply because Fauci received a presidential pardon from Joe Biden covering the period from 2014 to January 2025, eliminating any risk of federal prosecution for acts within that window. Fauci and the committee's Democrats countered that he had a well-founded fear of self-incrimination, given public statements by Republicans expressing their desire to prosecute him. Fauci had previously accused Paul of having an out-of-control obsession with him and of seeking any statement that could justify Paul's repeated public promises that Fauci would end up behind bars.

The doctor Fauci was at no risk of federal prosecution. All he had to do was tell the truth.

The pardon does not protect Fauci from state-level criminal proceedings or from investigations into testimony lawmakers consider false, leaving legal questions about the validity of the Fifth Amendment plea after a presidential pardon unresolved.

Legal counsel and political reaction

Fauci's lawyer, David Schertler, called the vote a vulgar political maneuver and framed it as the continuation of a personal vendetta by Senator Paul against a public servant who dedicated 50 years to public health and saved countless lives. Schertler said it was shameful and wrong for Paul to abuse his power by trying to weaponize the Department of Justice against an honorable public official.

The vote was strictly along party lines, consistent with the pattern in Washington whenever votes touch on Fauci. Donald Trump, who managed the first 11 months of the pandemic and praised Fauci for the Warp Speed vaccine operation, has kept a measured distance, saying he is not a great fan of Fauci but reserving far harsher rhetoric for his longstanding enemies. Corriere della Sera notes that Trump is aware that objectively troubling documents obtained by Republicans, including a 2018 American subaward request to Wuhan on coronaviruses rejected by the Pentagon agency DARPA as too risky, could have unpredictable geopolitical consequences if confirmed.

Phone records and personal notes

Senator Ron Johnson said he obtained a copy of the contents of Fauci's phone from the Trump administration, expressing hope that the data could answer many of the questions Fauci refused to address during the hearing. The information was provided by the Department of Health, led by Robert Kennedy Jr., another adversary of Fauci. Personal notes by Fauci recovered from government servers were also handed over.

What happens next

Paul now has two procedural options: seek a vote by the full Senate, where 60 votes are required but the Republican Party holds only 53 seats, or send the committee's recommendation directly to the Department of Justice, bypassing the full chamber in a move that breaks with precedent. The DOJ is not obligated to act, but interim chief prosecutor Todd Blanche has followed every directive from Trump so far, according to AGI. Contempt of Congress can carry prison time, as shown by Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, who each served four months in federal prison for refusing to testify before Congress. Fauci is also already the subject of investigations by several Republican-led state attorneys general.