Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul put forward an amendment Monday that would “eliminate” Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
“We’ve learned a lot over the past two years, but one lesson in particular is that no one person should be deemed ‘dictator-in-chief,'” Paul said in a statement. “No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans.”
“To ensure that ineffective, unscientific lockdowns and mandates are never foisted on the American people ever again, I’ve introduced this amendment to eliminate Dr. Anthony Fauci’s position as Director of the NIAID, and divide his power into three separate new institutes,” the senator continued. “This will create accountability and oversight into a taxpayer funded position that has largely abused its power, and has been responsible for many failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 11: Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the NIAID, leaves following a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
Under the proposal, Fauci’s role would be split and replaced with three new directors for three new institutes: National Institute of Allergic Diseases, National Institute of Infectious Diseases and National Institute of Immunologic Diseases. Each director would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Each term would last five years.
Paul’s amendment comes as Americans mark the two-year anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns. (RELATED: Rand Paul Promises To Investigate Fauci If GOP Wins Senate In Midterms)
“For two years our lives were held captive by petty tyrants and power-hungry bureaucrats,” Paul wrote in an op-ed Monday for Fox News. “No one person should have the sole authority to dictate science, especially when that one person wasn’t ever following the science. I’ve said that from the beginning, and I’ve been proven right over, and over, and over again. On masks, lockdowns, schools, natural immunity, all of it.”
“A rational person might ask, how in the world did it take us so long to get to the truth? Why did we spend two years not following the science? Well again, that’s what happens when ‘the science’ is dictated by one man, an unelected bureaucrat with far too much power.”
Paul has been an outspoken critic of Fauci, alleging Fauci created “hysteria” over the Omicron variant and “routinely ignores the science.”