Senators to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for pleading the Fifth during hearing

CongressSenators to vote on holding Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for pleading the Fifth during tense hearingFauci declined to answer senators’ questions over 100 times during last week’s hearing, angering Republican lawmakers who have targeted him for years.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleFauci invokes Fifth Amendment over 100 times during Senate hearing02:47Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleAug. 6, 2026, 5:00 AM EDTBy Megan BrandSenate Republicans are set to vote on holding Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer lawmakers’ questions during a fiery hearing last week.Fauci, who has long been a target of the right since he served as a top health official during the Covid pandemic, repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right during the hearing, explaining in his opening remarks that he believed Republicans would have tried to use his testimony to prosecute him. Now, Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are escalating their push to do just that. If the contempt of Congress resolution passes, the committee can refer it directly to the Justice Department or request that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hold a full Senate vote. If Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, chooses to try to prosecute the case, her office would need to secure an indictment from a grand jury in the district, where she has a mixed track record.Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., has argued that Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, could not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights because of his pre-emptive pardon from then-President Joe Biden. “I ordered him to answer and warned him about contempt, yet he still refused,” Paul said in a Tuesday statement. “That is obstruction of a congressional investigation. The Committee will act accordingly.”Republicans also argued in the contempt res...