June 16 (UPI) — Republicans led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced legislation Tuesday to remove Dr. Anthony Fauci as director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fire Fauci Act would reduce Fauci’s salary to zero dollars and require the Senate to confirm someone else to fill his position, Greene, R-Ga., said at a news conference.
“You see, Dr. Fauci was not elected by the American people. He was not chosen to guide our economy. He was not chosen to rule over parents and their children’s education. But yet Dr. Fauci very much controlled our lives for the past year,” she said.
Other sponsors of the bill include Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Mary E. Miller, R-Ill.; Buddy Carter, R-Ga.; Bob Good, R-Va.; Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.; Gregory W. Steube, R-Fla.; and Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
Fauci was appointed as director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984 and was tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as his chief medical adviser amid the pandemic in December.
Greene cited emails Fauci sent at the beginning of the pandemic in which he did not aggressively pursue the theory that the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, and downplayed the effectiveness of masks at preventing the spread of the virus.
Fauci has maintained that he believes the virus emerged naturally and has since altered his position on the efficacy of masks.
Earlier this month, Greene sent a letter to Biden demanding an investigation into Fauci and “his potential involvement in the cover-up” of the origins of the virus.
Biden last month asked the U.S. intelligence community to “redouble their efforts” to find the origins of COVID-19 and present a report to him.
Also over the weekend, the G7 called for a second World Health Organization investigation into the origins of COVID-19 after China refused to participate in an initial report.
