On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci accused Republicans of defaming him but said that if requested by Congress, he would testify.
Fauci, who on Monday announced his resignation from the federal government, told CNN he wasn’t leaving because he was worried about becoming the target of a congressional Republican probe should they take back the House and Senate in November.
I can justify what I’ve done and I have nothing to hide. So I’m not intimidated or bothered by it,’ said Fauci, who also serves as President Joe Biden’s main medical advisor and as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Republican politicians like Senator Rand Paul and Fauci often disagreed during the epidemic over COVD mitigation strategies.
Republicans saw the infectious disease specialist as a representation of lockdowns, while Fauci countered that he was only following scientific advice.
He said that rather than scrutinising the government’s reaction to the pandemic, the GOP has focused more on character assassination.
“What has transpired up to this point is less of an oversight and more of a character assassination.”
As long as we make it a courteous oversight—which is what it should be—instead of simply bringing up absurd stuff and assaulting my reputation, I’d be willing to participate. That isn’t a mistake,’ he said on CNN’s New Day.
Despite claiming that Republicans were trying to destroy his reputation, Dr. Anthony Fauci indicated he would appear before Congress if they so requeste
Republicans and Fauci have battled in previous congressional hearings, with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky (above) claiming that Fauci’s retirement would not prevent him from testifying.
Republicans told Fauci on Monday that they would still summon him before Congress notwithstanding his resignation.
Should Democrats wine the midterm elections, they want to accelerate both their own inquiries into the causes of the coronavirus outbreak and the American government’s reaction. The House is expected to be won by the GOP.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, and Fauci have engaged in some notable hearing exchanges in the past.
On Monday, he said that despite his retirement, Fauci would be required to give a sworn testimony.
Fauci’s departure won’t stop a thorough inquiry into the pandemic’s causes. Any conversations he took part in about the lab leak will be the subject of an oath-required deposition, Paul tweeted.
Republican party members made similar promises.
The timing of Dr. Fauci’s resignation from his job in December is opportune since it prevents House Republicans from holding him responsible for the country’s decline over the previous three years. Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican who is on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, tweeted, “This man is a coward.”
Make no mistake, he said, “whether or not he continues in public service, my colleagues and I will hold Dr. Fauci responsible.”
Retirement can’t hide Dr. Fauci from legislative monitoring, according to Republican Rep. James Comer, who would lead the Oversight panel if Republicans take back control of Congress in November.
Fauci said on Monday that he would quit the administration in December to “pursue the next chapter” of his career.
Fauci, 81, has been making retirement hints for some months, but up until this week, he had not specified when his public career will come to an end.
Fauci said in a statement, “While I am leaving my present posts, I am not retiring.
“I want to pursue the next stage of my career while I still have so much energy and love for my area after more than 50 years of government service.”
I want to continue advancing science and public health, and I want to utilise what I’ve learned as the director of NIAID to inspire and guide the next generation of scientific leaders as they work to get the world ready to deal with infectious disease challenges in the future,’ he added.
In addition to decades of work on infectious illnesses including the AIDS epidemic, Ebola, Zika, and the coronavirus pandemic, Biden commended Fauci, saying the doctor had saved “countless lives.”
As we battled this once-in-a-generation epidemic, I was able to contact him at any time of day for his counsel. He is completely dedicated to the project and approaches it with an unmatched zeal, vigour, and scientific integrity,’ Biden said in a statement.
Fauci did not mention his plans for the future but ruled out working in the pharmaceutical sector. He said he had been writing a memoir but that he lacked a publisher.
He told The New York Times, “So long as I’m healthy, which I am, active, which I am, and enthusiastic, which I am, I want to do some things outside of the federal government.”
When he disagreed with Donald Trump’s predecessor and members of the Republican Party on how to address the avian flu outbreak, Fauci rose to national prominence.
He was ultimately silenced by the Trump administration, but he persisted in speaking out, promoting face masks and social seclusion before vaccinations were widely accessible, all the while Republicans branded him as a lockdown icon.
In November 2021, President Biden lauded Dr. Fauci for his work on the avian influenza pandemic, saying, “His devotion to the mission is unshakable, and he does it with a remarkable enthusiasm, intensity, and scientific integrity.”
During the covid epidemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci rose to prominence and often disagreed with then-President Donald Trump; in the photo above, they are seen at the White House in March 2020.
After Trump departed the White House, Fauci said he thought about leaving, but decided against it because he did not want to deny Biden’s desire to continue serving during the covid epidemic.
The Times quoted Fauci as saying, “So I remained on for a year, believing that at the end of the year, it would be the end of Covid, and as it turned out, you know, that’s not exactly what occurred.” Now that I’m in my second year here, I’ve just become aware of several things I wish to accomplish.
Threats to his life resulted from his disagreements with Republicans, notably with former President Donald Trump.
This month, a guy who threatened to murder Fauci and his family in emails was given more than three years in jail.
Fauci has a dependable security team that he’ll probably still need after leaving the ministry.
I was forced to disagree with a US president. He told the Post, “I did it; it wasn’t the simplest thing in the world to do.
Trump and Fauci initially got along, but their relationship deteriorated as the former president pushed to end the government shutdown and the latter argued in favour of maintaining mitigation strategies like face masks and social isolation.
When Trump claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a potential medication, Fauci countered that it had not yet shown any evidence of efficacy.
In a document that was subsequently made public, Trump and his aides explained why they believed Fauci was mistaken about the pandemic.
Fauci remarked, “I was placed in a very rare situation where the nation was afraid, and they really needed someone who was stable and honest, who showed integrity, and remained with the truth, and I became the symbol of it.”
“And you become the villain to them when you become a symbol for a certain group of people, the ones opposing it.”
However, there are some signs that the government’s handling of the epidemic was flawed. According to a study on the CDC published this week, the organisation responded slowly to the epidemic and provided unclear advice on things like face masks.
As soon as Biden was elected president, Fauci was named as his senior medical advisor. Additionally, he has served for 38 years as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ director.
In his research on infectious illnesses, Fauci, according to Biden, has helped save countless lives.
Dr. Fauci has made many contributions to public health, saving lives both in the United States and abroad.
The American people and the rest of the globe will continue to gain from Dr. Fauci’s experience in whatever he does after leaving his post in the U.S. Government. Whether or not you have directly interacted with him, his work has had a profound impact on all Americans.
He has my sincere gratitude for his public service. He has made the United States of America stronger, more durable, and healthier, the president said in his remarks.
Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in June 2008 for his efforts.
Along with his wife and kids, Dr. Anthony Fauci
Fauci said of his decision to stand aside, “I still have so much energy and love for my work,” and stresses he is not retiring.
I’m announcing today that I’ll be leaving my roles as chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.
In order to explore the next phase of my career, I will be leaving both roles in December of this year.
Being in charge of the NIAID for so many years and through so many difficulties in science and public health has been an honour of a lifetime.
I am really proud of all of our achievements. In my own lab, at NIAID, at NIH, and elsewhere, I have collaborated with and learned from an infinite number of smart and committed individuals. I want to let them know how much I appreciate and respect them.
As director of NIAID for the past 38 years, I have had the incredible honour of working for and advising seven US presidents, starting with President Ronald Reagan, on the threat of newly emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, anthrax attacks, pandemic influenza, various bird influenza threats, Ebola and Zika, among others, and, of course, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Being President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor from the very first day of his administration makes me very proud.
I am leaving my present job, but I am not leaving the workforce. I intend to pursue the next stage of my career while I still have this much enthusiasm and passion for my field after more than 50 years of government service.
I want to continue advancing science and public health using the knowledge I have gained as director of NIAID.
I also want to teach and inspire the next generation of scientific leaders as they work to get the world ready to fight off infectious disease threats in the future.
I’ll continue to give my present duties all I’ve got in the coming months, and I’ll also assist the Institute be ready for a leadership change. I am confident that I am putting this work in the competent hands of some of the most gifted scientists in the world who work for NIH.
The world has been able to battle dangerous illnesses and contribute to the saving of lives all around the world because of the power of science and investments in research and innovation. I am happy to have contributed to this crucial effort and look forward to doing so in the future.
In order to better understand the origins of infectious and immune-mediated diseases and to create better methods of preventing, detecting, and treating these illnesses, NIAID conducts and funds research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), throughout the nation, and internationally.
The NIAID website provides news releases, info sheets, and other documents that are linked to the organisation. 5
In 1968, during Lyndon Johnson’s administration, Fauci began working at the National Institutes of Health.
The son of drugstore entrepreneurs who immigrated to the US from Italy, he was born in Brooklyn in 1940.
Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008, and President George W. Bush noted that even as a young child, he displayed independence by supporting the New York Yankees in a neighbourhood full of Brooklyn Dodgers supporters.
Fauci also led the basketball team at the esteemed Regis High School, which he attended on a scholarship, despite his little size.
After finishing his MD at Cornell University, he continued his education at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
In a 1989 interview with the NIH Historical Office, Fauci said, “My interest in medicine derives from my deep interest in people, in asking questions and solving problems.
Long-distance runner Fauci finished the 1984 Army Corps Marathon in 3 hours and 37 minutes.
In 1984, as the country was grappling with the AIDS epidemic, he was appointed director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
He remembered how frustrating it was to care for dying people at the NIH hospital when there was nothing he could do.
He would discuss new scientific findings regarding AIDS with then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop after hours, which influenced Koop’s well-known report enlightening Americans about the illness in 1986.
Fauci ran afoul with campaigners early on in the AIDS epidemic who wanted patients to have access to cutting-edge medications. Fauci and many other scientists feared that altering the study methodology would jeopardise their commitment to objectivity.
A “die-in” was organised by activists in front of his NIH office.
He said that after meeting with activists and working on a parallel track where patients could receive the experimental treatment while a randomised controlled group would establish a drug’s effectiveness, he gradually came to the realisation that the protestors were correct.
Fauci was one of the designers of PEPFAR, the multibillion dollar worldwide HIV/AIDS initiative that has saved millions of lives, under President George W. Bush.
At the age of 44, in 1985, Fauci married Christine Grady, a nurse. Jennifer, Megan, and Alison were the couple’s subsequent three daughters.