Anthony Fauci, MD, is sitting before Congress, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on TV debating COVID lockdowns, and Americans can't agree on what science to trust.
You might think it's 2020 again.
Six years after COVID-19 thrust the world into the fear and uncertainty of a global pandemic, Republicans in power aren't leaving it in the past. Instead, they've returned its familiar political arguments to center stage for new scrutiny, demanding accountability for the scientists and media figures whom they feel deceived and mistreated Americans years ago.
The efforts ramped up last week, when a Republican-led Senate committee chaired by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, MD, subpoenaed the now-retired, 85-year-old Fauci to testify about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former NIH immunologist repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment, after accusing the lawmakers of trying to coerce him to perjure himself to justify criminal charges. In response to his choice, on Thursday, the committee passed a vote to hold Fauci in contempt, a stunning move that could motivate the Justice Department to initiate an investigation.
