Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Democrats sought to deflect rather than defend Dr. Anthony Fauci from specific accusations from Republicans that he mishandled COVID-19 pandemic policy and misled the public.
As Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in the highly anticipated hearing Wednesday morning, Democrats declined to rebut arguments from Republicans that he helped cover up the origins of the pandemic and concealed his role in implementing lockdowns. Instead, they tried to redirect attention elsewhere. They said that committee chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arranged the hearing through a faulty process. They also blamed the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the recent rise in measles cases.
At the time of publication, Democrats on the committee had not asked Fauci any questions but instead used their time to bring awareness to health crises they said could have been the focus of the hearing.
“There’s a foodborne parasite affecting thousands of people in Michigan and across the country, and our federal agencies still haven’t fully pinned down the source of that outbreak,” ranking member Gary Peters (D-MI) said.
“Measles cases in this country are at the highest they’ve been in 35 years,” the ranking member continued. “More children are getting sick and even hospitalized from this preventable disease. Over a thousand people have died from the Ebola virus in Africa, and we don’t know how widespread this crisis actually is.”
When more than 95% of a community is vaccinated for measles, most people are protected through “herd immunity,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current vaccination rates, however, are nationally only at 92.5% of children having both doses of the vaccine, down from over 95% before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since President Trump took office in 2025, more than 4,500 cases of measles have been reported,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said. “That is more cases in the year and a half since Donald Trump has been president than were reported from 2000 to 2024 combined. Children are dying because there has been increased vaccine hesitancy, fueled by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, and frankly, his entire administration.”
Meanwhile, Republicans hammered Fauci during the hearing for his role in COVID-19 pandemic policy, as the doctor continuously pleaded the Fifth.
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked Fauci whether the lockdown policies during 2020 and 2021 prevented children from getting their early childhood vaccinations, including for measles. Records of Fauci’s personal pandemic-era recollections show that he questioned then-CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield in early 2020 about the risk of lockdowns preventing children from getting vaccinated.
“Did you ever have an opportunity to bring up the potential of measles deaths among children and an infection rate going around the world from measles, based on the fact that so many children would not get their measles vaccine because of the shutdown?” Lankford asked.
Fauci invoked his right to remain silent.
This discourse difference between Republicans and Democrats continued beyond the hearing room and on social media.
“As Measles cases hit a 35 year high, as a senseless war rages on with no exit plan, as gas climbs to record highs, and the Epstein files remain secret, the U.S. Senate is holding a hearing today to yell at Dr. Fauci and again push horse dewormer on the American public,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Republicans echoed Paul’s sentiment that Fauci should be in jail.
RAND PAUL HAS FAUCI LAWYER REMOVED FROM COVID-19 HEARING OVER INTERRUPTIONS
“The lies of Anthony Fauci were one of the most destructive forces in American life in the 21st century,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote on X. “His blanket pardon from Joe Biden is one of the most disgraceful escapes from justice in history. Get him, Rand.”
“Fauci needs to go to prison,” Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) wrote on X. “NOW.”