Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, confronted Dr. Anthony Fauci during a congressional hearing Wednesday, using explicit language to criticize the former chief medical advisor's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as part of an ongoing investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the federal government's pandemic response. Paul issued a subpoena for Fauci's testimony.
What the Right Is Saying
Moreno opened his questioning by asking audience members to stand if they had been penalized for questioning COVID-19 guidelines, prompting some attendees seated behind Fauci to rise. Moreno then asked Fauci to face them, which he declined to do.
"'Here I am sitting in front of you six years later saying, who the f--k do you think you were for doing that?' It is a total disgrace what you did to this country," Moreno said during the hearing.
Republican senators and conservative commentators have long accused Fauci of misleading Congress about federal funding for research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nature of gain-of-function research, which involves altering pathogens to study potential transmissibility or danger. Paul has led efforts to hold Fauci accountable for what Republicans describe as an inadequate explanation of the pandemic's origins.
Conservative voices on social media praised Moreno's approach. White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung wrote that Moreno was "throwing a high-heat fastball." Fox News contributor Joe Concha stated, "Fauci should go to jail. Full stop." Jace Yarbrough, a Republican congressional candidate and Air Force veteran, thanked Moreno for confronting Fauci on behalf of service members who faced consequences for declining the COVID-19 vaccine.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressives and public health experts have defended Fauci's record, arguing that his guidance was based on the best available science during an unprecedented global health crisis. Critics on the left note that mask mandates, social distancing, and school closures were implemented across party lines by state and local officials, not solely at Fauci's direction.
Democrats on the committee have pointed out that many of the decisions criticized by Republicans were made collaboratively with input from multiple public health experts and elected officials nationwide. Some progressive commentators noted that Fauci testified voluntarily for hours despite invoking his constitutional rights against self-incrimination.
What the Numbers Show
During Wednesday's hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times rather than answer questions from lawmakers, according to Paul. The senator subsequently announced plans to seek contempt charges against Fauci.
Fauci served as chief medical advisor to President Biden and was a central government figure during the COVID-19 pandemic response from 2020 to 2022. He previously directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades before retiring in 2022.
Moreno, who is serving his first term in the Senate after defeating incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2024, said he decided to run for office after learning about an Ohio mother arrested for not wearing a mask during an outdoor high school football game. "When that story broke, I said to myself, I cannot stand idly on the side and watch this happen," Moreno stated.
The Bottom Line
The confrontation highlights ongoing partisan divisions over COVID-19 policy decisions made between 2020 and 2022. Whether contempt charges against Fauci will proceed remains uncertain, as such referrals require action from the full Senate. The hearing marks a continued effort by Republican lawmakers to examine the origins of COVID-19 and the federal response nearly six years after the pandemic began.