The Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after a bitter hearing last week, where the retired public health official invoked the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and possible prosecution by Republican lawmakers, who have routinely vilified him for his handling of the Covid-19 response.
Party-line vote
The vote was adopted along party lines. This came after several attempts from some of the panel’s Democratic members to table today’s vote, all of these were rejected by the committee’s Republican majority.
Next steps
Rand Paul, the committee’s GOP chair, will now seek a full vote in the Senate, or possibly send the resolution directly the justice department. The DoJ will then determine whether to pursue criminal charges.
