Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena Monday compelling Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before his committee in July, escalating a long-running feud over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul announced the move on social media, accusing Fauci of reneging on a prior agreement to appear voluntarily this month.
“Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us he will NOT voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so,” Paul wrote on X. “Therefore, today I have issued a subpoena requiring him to testify before the Committee, in public, next month.”
This marks Paul’s first use of subpoena power as committee chair, a authority granted last year when the panel voted to allow unilateral subpoenas by the chairman. The move underscores Paul’s relentless focus on Fauci, the former top U.S. infectious disease official, whom he accuses of covering up American involvement in risky viral research at a Chinese lab that Paul claims created the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Paul and Fauci have clashed repeatedly in past Senate hearings, particularly during the Biden administration when Fauci led the nation’s pandemic response. The Kentucky senator alleges hard evidence exists that the virus was engineered in a Chinese lab and escaped, and that Fauci and other officials conspired to dismiss the “lab leak” theory as a conspiracy. Paul has blamed Fauci for millions of COVID-19 deaths worldwide and called for his indictment for allegedly lying to Congress under oath about gain-of-function research.
In a CNBC interview Tuesday, Paul said, “We’ve been negotiating with him for material and for testimony. This has gone on for some time. He slow walked us and slow walked us. Finally agreed to come in voluntarily … then last week he says he’s not coming in.” He added, “With this subpoena power, we will bring him in, unless he fights this in court.”
The subpoena adds a new chapter to the ongoing political battle over pandemic accountability. Meanwhile, similar tensions are playing out elsewhere: Senate Democrats have issued their own subpoenas targeting vaccine policy changes, and a recent court ruling tossed out Trump-era DOJ subpoenas aimed at Minnesota Democrats.
Fauci has not publicly responded to the subpoena, but his legal team is expected to review the demand. The hearing, scheduled for next month, is likely to reignite debates over pandemic origins, government transparency, and the limits of congressional oversight.
