Kevin McCarthy Vows a Republican-Led House Will Hold Fauci Accountable

A Republican-led House in Congress will hold Dr. Anthony Fauci accountable, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Monday following Dr. Anthony Fauci’s announcement.

“Dr. Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of COVID,” McCarthy said Monday, adding, “He owes the American people answers.”

“A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable,” he continued:

Dr. Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of COVID.
 
He owes the American people answers. A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable.

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 22, 2022

The Republican leader’s remark follows Fauci’s retirement announcement, moving up his timeline to December 2022 — conveniently after the midterm elections, when Republicans hope to gain a majority in both the House and Senate.

“I am announcing today that I will be stepping down from the positions of Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, as well as the position of Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden,” Fauci said in a statement, asserting that he is readying to “pursue the next chapter of [his] career.”

In the statement, however, the 81-year-old emphasized that he is by no means retiring.

“After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field,” he said.

“I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats,” he added.

McCarthy is not the first Republican to warn that Fauci’s departure will not protect the NIAID director from answering tough questions on the origins of the Chinese coronavirus — a battle Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has continued to wage as Fauci continues to deny that NIAID funded gain-of-function research.

“You’re simply saying it doesn’t exist because you changed the definition on the NIH website. This is terrible, and you’re completely trying to escape the idea that we should do something about trying to prevent a pandemic from leaking from a lab,” Paul told Fauci in November.

“And what you’ve done is change the definition on your website to try to cover your ass, basically. That’s what you’ve done, you’ve changed the website to change the definition that doesn’t include the risky research that’s going on,” he added.

“Until you admit that it’s risky, we’re not going to get anywhere. You have to admit that this research was risky. The NIH has now rebuked them, your own agency has rebuked them. You’re still unwilling to admit that they gained in function when they say they became sicker. They gained in lethality. It’s a new virus. That’s not gain-of-function?” he posed.

Paul on Monday also warned that Fauci’s departure will not stop a GOP-led investigation.

“Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak,” Paul said:

Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak.

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 22, 2022