Fauci news moved to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, when Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. Rep. Rich McCormick responded by proposing the STOP the SWAMP Act, a House GOP proposal aimed at blocking some federal workers from returning to government service.
Capitol Hill hearing
Sen. Rand Paul chaired the hearing. After it ended, he said his committee would begin the process for holding Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.
The number matters because McCormick tied his bill directly to that hearing record. In a video shared with Digital, he said, "We saw him evade so many questions, pleading the Fifth... that's fine, that's your constitutional right," and then added a comparison to a worker whose till came up short at Burger King.
STOP the SWAMP Act
The STOP the SWAMP Act would bar people from working for the federal government if they refuse to answer certain questions from federal lawmakers or if they are convicted of perjury. It would also authorize members of Congress to refer hearing witnesses for prosecution if they were found to have unlawfully withheld information from lawmakers.
McCormick said, "It should be the same way in government. If you don't want to answer questions about what you did wrong, we should be able to fire you."
Anthony Fauci in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is not currently facing any criminal charges, and he has consistently denied wrongdoing. That leaves the hearing dispute in an unusual place: one former public health official who can invoke the Fifth Amendment, and one House GOP proposal that would still try to cut off future federal work.
Sen. Rand Paul also made public diary entries kept by Dr. Anthony Fauci ahead of the hearing, including entries that reflected on pandemic-era fame and discussed the disease's origins. Some entries appeared to show him taking credit for influencing policies that closed schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether Rep. Rich McCormick's STOP the SWAMP Act advances will decide whether the proposal stays symbolic or becomes a real bar on future federal employment.
