Paul announced that the committee would move toward a contempt vote next week over Fauci’s refusal to provide substantive answers. Paul has also argued that Fauci’s blanket use of the Fifth Amendment does not necessarily shield him from congressional scrutiny.
The confrontation comes as Republicans continue examining decisions made during the pandemic, including questions surrounding COVID-19’s origins, federal research funding and the conduct of officials who played central roles in the government’s response.
Trump was asked about the controversy during a White House press conference and whether he believed Fauci should face contempt proceedings.
The president did not directly endorse a punishment for Fauci. Instead, Trump reflected on his own experience working with the longtime federal health official during his first administration.
“Well, I watched the whole thing today, but more importantly, I was a part of the whole Fauci. I inherited Fauci. He was here from the 1980s, so I had him for a period of time, and I disagreed with him on a lot,” Trump said, noting that “I would have had to close down the whole country if I listened to him.”
Trump emphasized that he ultimately favored giving governors substantial authority over how their states handled the pandemic rather than imposing one uniform national approach.
“I went the Federalist way, which is basically let the governors decide, and generally speaking, the Republican governors did very well. The Democrat governors did not very well,” Trump continued.
The president also revisited his disagreements with Fauci over masking policies, arguing that the public received shifting guidance as the pandemic progressed.
“But Fauci wanted to have nobody wearing masks, if you remember, and then everybody had to wear five masks, as many masks as you could get. I mean, made a lot of mistakes, and he wasn’t a big factor for me. He was a very big factor for Biden, and if you remember, even though we were sort of prime time in terms of that whole disaster of COVID, far people died fewer in the Trump administration than in the Biden administration.”
Trump’s comments came as Fauci’s appearance on Capitol Hill generated renewed scrutiny over the former official’s role in the pandemic response.
But the president was also pressed on another controversial issue: pardons issued during the Biden administration and questions surrounding the use of an autopen.
Lindell TV’s Cara Castronuova asked Trump whether the Justice Department should revisit the matter and examine whether Biden’s autopen-signed pardons were legally valid.
Trump’s response appeared more cautious than some of his previous statements on the issue.
The president stressed the enormous authority attached to the presidential pardon power.
Trump on Wednesday noted that the pardon power is “the most powerful thing a president has.” He continued, “So, he was pardoned by Biden, and I respect that. I know how powerful it is.”
Trump then acknowledged that he did not know precisely what evidence might establish whether a particular pardon was properly authorized.
“The only thing I know that he signed was Hunter Biden’s pardon, but I’m not sure that he signed— he probably didn’t sign this one. So, I can’t tell you what the law is. I’ve heard that you have to have a lot of proof, you need to have letters, you need to have all sorts of things that the person operating the auto pen has to know exactly what it’s all about. He didn’t know what it was about,” Trump said.
“Maybe there’s something on the auto pen. Other than that, the power of pardon is very powerful.”
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The exchange marked a notably measured response from Trump compared with earlier criticism of Biden-era autopen actions.
Trump was subsequently asked about Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth despite having received a pardon from former President Joe Biden.
Rather than accusing Fauci of personally making the decision, Trump pointed to the advice he received from his legal team.
“Look, I’ve never been a big fan of Fauci. Why he did that was very simple. His lawyer told him to,” he said.
Trump acknowledged that Fauci faced a difficult decision but suggested the former official might ultimately have been better served by answering at least some of the committee’s questions.
“I don’t know if he would have been better off not doing it. There were a lot of questions that I guess he could have answered, and some maybe he didn’t feel comfortable answering, but his lawyer told him to do that.”
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The Senate confrontation now moves toward its next stage.
Paul and Republican lawmakers have made clear that Fauci’s refusal to testify will not simply end with Wednesday’s hearing. The committee is expected to consider a contempt resolution, potentially setting up another major confrontation over the limits of congressional investigative power and the protections afforded by the Fifth Amendment.
For Trump, however, the episode appears to be about more than Fauci himself.
The president’s remarks underscored his longstanding disagreements with the former government scientist while stopping short of demanding immediate punishment. At the same time, Trump used the opportunity to defend the approach he took during the pandemic and distinguish his administration’s decisions from those made under Biden.
With Republicans continuing to investigate the federal response to COVID-19, Fauci’s decision to remain silent could ensure that the debate over the pandemic—and who should ultimately be held accountable for the decisions made during it—remains firmly in Washington’s spotlight.
