As the election nears, Biden administration officials are dreading three words: Chairman Rand Paul.
The Kentucky senator, who has clashed with Anthony S. Fauci and other health officials throughout the pandemic, is in line to lead a Senate committee should he win reelection and Republicans retake the chamber next week. (While Paul is heavily favored in his own race, control of the Senate is viewed as a toss-up by pollsters.) GOP control would give the libertarian doctor — an outspoken critic of the government’s coronavirus policies — the power to lead investigations and help set legislative priorities next year, either as chairman of the Senate’s sweeping health committee or its more targeted government oversight panel.
“If you help me win, I promise to subpoena every last document of Dr. Fauci’s unprecedented coverup,” said a Paul fundraising email sent Oct. 20, referring to Paul’s allegations that Fauci contributed to the virus’s creation by funding research in Wuhan, China — allegations Fauci has categorically denied.
ADVERTISING
An ophthalmologist by training, Paul is set to be the most senior Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, better known as HELP, which oversees the nation’s health and education agencies as part of its expansive portfolio. The possibility has rattled health-care leaders and trade groups, worried that Paul will follow through on his criticism of “Big Pharma, the medical establishment and public health officials” for their stances on covid. Paul has argued that those groups wrongly quashed disagreements about how to fight the pandemic. In 2021, for instance, he called for more research into treatments such as ivermectin, noting that it was already in clinical trials to test its effectiveness against a number of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The drug was subsequently shown to be ineffective against the coronavirus.
The American Public Health Association, a trade group representing public health professionals, recently gave Paul the lowest-possible grade on its congressional report card: zero percent.
“He has not been an exemplar of prevention or wellness,” said Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, referring to Paul’s reticence about whether he got a coronavirus vaccine and reports that he used the Senate gym while waiting for a coronavirus test result in March 2020 that showed he was infected. “That is a real problem when you’re a physician … you should know better.”
Experts at three other health organizations declined to go on the record with their own concerns, citing fears that criticizing Paul could backfire if he assumes the health committee’s leadership.
J. Stephen Morrison, who oversees global health policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, predicted that agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration will face considerable pressure if Paul and fellow Republicans take control of Congress and launch investigations into the government’s pandemic response.
“A certain group of Republicans feel that the actions by the public health leadership defied personal liberties, were reckless, were unaccountable. And they want to exact a price for that,” Morrison said. “They’re not thinking about what needs to be changed to protect Americans.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said earlier this year that he expects Paul to lead the health committee if Republicans take the Senate, given the pending retirement of Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the only GOP member with more seniority, the Associated Press reported.
But Paul and Senate leaders could opt that he take a different chairmanship: serving as the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the chamber’s chief panel charged with conducting oversight. That role is currently filled by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is retiring. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is next in seniority but has already exhausted his six-year term limit as panel chair.
Paul, whose office did not respond to interview requests, has said he will wait until after the election to make a decision about which committee to lead. But he has repeatedly indicated that pandemic-related investigations would be his top priority: A “Fire Fauci” banner is emblazoned as the “featured issue” on his campaign website and has fueled an array of his fundraising emails, stump speeches and tweets.
Fauci, 81, who is set to retire from government this year after leading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, told The Washington Post that he would comply with any congressional requests next year.
“I’m always open and happy to cooperate with any committee,” Fauci said, noting that he had testified before Congress hundreds of times over the past four decades but declining questions about his relationship with Paul.
Inside the administration, senior officials are less sanguine about the prospects of Chairman Paul, who has peppered the health agencies with letters demanding information about myriad aspects of their covid guidance; sought to unwind masking requirements on public transportation; and over the summer organized a hearing — skipped by Democrats — into whether virus research sponsored by the U.S. government contributed to the pandemic.
There’s at least one critical piece of health-care legislation on the health committee’s docket next year: The panel will need to reauthorize key pandemic preparedness programs set to expire at the end of fiscal 2023, in what could be a relatively routine matter — or could become a fierce fight given Paul’s hostility to the government’s approach.
“Oh, dear God,” said one senior administration official who was not authorized to comment. Other officials added that Paul has shown little willingness to cooperate with the administration.
Beyond the coronavirus, Paul has argued for reducing government’s role in health care, opposed federal funding of abortion and criticized hormone therapy for minors — all positions that put him on the opposite side of many public health groups.
The Kentucky senator, who has clashed with Anthony S. Fauci and other health officials throughout the pandemic, is in line to lead a Senate committee should he win reelection and Republicans retake the chamber next week. (While Paul is heavily favored in his own race, control of the Senate is viewed as a toss-up by pollsters.) GOP control would give the libertarian doctor — an outspoken critic of the government’s coronavirus policies — the power to lead investigations and help set legislative priorities next year, either as chairman of the Senate’s sweeping health committee or its more targeted government oversight panel.
“If you help me win, I promise to subpoena every last document of Dr. Fauci’s unprecedented coverup,” said a Paul fundraising email sent Oct. 20, referring to Paul’s allegations that Fauci contributed to the virus’s creation by funding research in Wuhan, China — allegations Fauci has categorically denied.
ADVERTISING
An ophthalmologist by training, Paul is set to be the most senior Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, better known as HELP, which oversees the nation’s health and education agencies as part of its expansive portfolio. The possibility has rattled health-care leaders and trade groups, worried that Paul will follow through on his criticism of “Big Pharma, the medical establishment and public health officials” for their stances on covid. Paul has argued that those groups wrongly quashed disagreements about how to fight the pandemic. In 2021, for instance, he called for more research into treatments such as ivermectin, noting that it was already in clinical trials to test its effectiveness against a number of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The drug was subsequently shown to be ineffective against the coronavirus.
The American Public Health Association, a trade group representing public health professionals, recently gave Paul the lowest-possible grade on its congressional report card: zero percent.
“He has not been an exemplar of prevention or wellness,” said Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, referring to Paul’s reticence about whether he got a coronavirus vaccine and reports that he used the Senate gym while waiting for a coronavirus test result in March 2020 that showed he was infected. “That is a real problem when you’re a physician … you should know better.”
Experts at three other health organizations declined to go on the record with their own concerns, citing fears that criticizing Paul could backfire if he assumes the health committee’s leadership.
J. Stephen Morrison, who oversees global health policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, predicted that agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration will face considerable pressure if Paul and fellow Republicans take control of Congress and launch investigations into the government’s pandemic response.
“A certain group of Republicans feel that the actions by the public health leadership defied personal liberties, were reckless, were unaccountable. And they want to exact a price for that,” Morrison said. “They’re not thinking about what needs to be changed to protect Americans.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said earlier this year that he expects Paul to lead the health committee if Republicans take the Senate, given the pending retirement of Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the only GOP member with more seniority, the Associated Press reported.
But Paul and Senate leaders could opt that he take a different chairmanship: serving as the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the chamber’s chief panel charged with conducting oversight. That role is currently filled by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who is retiring. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is next in seniority but has already exhausted his six-year term limit as panel chair.
Paul, whose office did not respond to interview requests, has said he will wait until after the election to make a decision about which committee to lead. But he has repeatedly indicated that pandemic-related investigations would be his top priority: A “Fire Fauci” banner is emblazoned as the “featured issue” on his campaign website and has fueled an array of his fundraising emails, stump speeches and tweets.
Fauci, 81, who is set to retire from government this year after leading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, told The Washington Post that he would comply with any congressional requests next year.
“I’m always open and happy to cooperate with any committee,” Fauci said, noting that he had testified before Congress hundreds of times over the past four decades but declining questions about his relationship with Paul.
Inside the administration, senior officials are less sanguine about the prospects of Chairman Paul, who has peppered the health agencies with letters demanding information about myriad aspects of their covid guidance; sought to unwind masking requirements on public transportation; and over the summer organized a hearing — skipped by Democrats — into whether virus research sponsored by the U.S. government contributed to the pandemic.
There’s at least one critical piece of health-care legislation on the health committee’s docket next year: The panel will need to reauthorize key pandemic preparedness programs set to expire at the end of fiscal 2023, in what could be a relatively routine matter — or could become a fierce fight given Paul’s hostility to the government’s approach.
“Oh, dear God,” said one senior administration official who was not authorized to comment. Other officials added that Paul has shown little willingness to cooperate with the administration.
Beyond the coronavirus, Paul has argued for reducing government’s role in health care, opposed federal funding of abortion and criticized hormone therapy for minors — all positions that put him on the opposite side of many public health groups.