Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to vote today on whether
to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.
Fauci declined to answer questions from members of the committee last week during
a hearing on the federal government's response to the COVID pandemic.
NPR's Eric McDaniel reports.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination at last week's hearing.
That infuriated Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who's long tried to prosecute him.
Paul, a libertarian opposed to government mandates, is a longtime critic of Fauci's response to COVID-19.
You presented your recommendations not as judgments open to debate, but as dictates of science itself.
Contempt of Congress is the mechanism by which lawmakers can attempt to compel
someone to cooperate with the legislative process or face potential criminal proceedings.
It remains unclear whether the Justice Department will choose to pursue an investigation
or charges for the 85-year-old Fauci, as it has for other former officials President Trump dislikes.
Eric McDaniel, NPR News, Washington.
The Senate has confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vote was largely along party lines.
It's been almost a year since the CDC lost its last permanent director.
That's when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Fired Susan Menares in a dispute over vaccine policy.