Now that a Senate committee voted to hold former infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt, many have speculated about what might happen next.
The resolution will go to the Senate floor for a full vote, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) suggested that even if the upper chamber does not approve the resolution, he might send it to the Justice Department anyway, according to Reuters.
A U.S. Senate committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former top U.S. infectious disease official refused to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a referral pushed by its Republican Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky, a longtime Fauci antagonist, on a party-line vote of 8-7. The vote followed a hearing last week where Fauci, who is 85 and retired in 2022, invoked the Fifth Amendment, the right to remain silent, more than 100 times.
The vote is the sharpest escalation yet in a broad Republican and Trump administration campaign to re-litigate the pandemic and hold accountable the officials who ran the U.S. response.
Paul has pursued a years-long investigation to try to prove his and other Republicans' conviction that Fauci orchestrated a cover-up of the coronavirus' origins....A contempt referral typically must be approved by a congressional committee and then the full Senate, which would likely need a 60-vote majority, requiring Democratic support, highly unlikely given the party's defense of Fauci.
But Paul has suggested that vote may be unnecessary, telling Fox News he could send the referral directly to the Justice Department with a legal brief.If the referral proceeds, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, run by Trump ally Jeanine Pirro, would review it and decide whether to seek a grand jury indictment.
BREAKING: Senate Republicans Vote to Hold Fauci in Contempt for Using His Fifth Amendment Rights
— The USA Startup (@theusastartup) August 6, 2026
Senate Republicans just voted to punish Dr. Anthony Fauci for doing exactly what the Constitution says he's allowed to do
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Commit pic.twitter.com/cYi5La09FZ
After the resolution is referred to the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington would review it and decide whether to seek a grand jury indictment. Contempt of Congress is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to $100,000 in fines.
Paul noted the full Senate could also vote after the chamber returns from August recess, though he has prioritized the DOJ recommendation. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said, “Holding a witness in contempt is a serious thing, and it should be rare. But the contempt power exists for precisely this circumstance.”
But there is a possibility that it might not produce the desired outcome. It’s not clear whether the DOJ will pursue charges against Fauci. It’s also not clear whether courts would uphold the contempt finding and could disagree with Paul’s conclusion that the Fifth Amendment does not protect Fauci in this case. Some legal experts argued that the threat of prosecution means Fauci is allowed to invoke this right.
Fauci’s lawyer David Schertler said, “Today’s partisan committee vote is a crude political stunt intended to punish Dr. Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights.”
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) said, “Criminal contempt is punitive. It does not compel a witness to answer questions or produce the documents we’d all like to see. What it will do is create a damaging precedent that future witnesses will use to resist legitimate congressional oversight and weaken this committee’s ability to compel testimony.”
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