Republican Senator Rand Paul says he expects the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to vote to hold Dr Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former chief medical adviser invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to testify last week. Paul, who chairs the committee, said he believes he has the votes needed to pass the measure and intends to refer Fauci to the Department of Justice immediately if the contempt vote succeeds, escalating a long-running Republican effort to hold him accountable over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The move follows growing scrutiny of Fauci, whose HHS-issued iPhone has been handed to Senate investigators and who has separately been subpoenaed as part of a probe into whether he profited from federal guidance he issued. The committee vote will determine whether Congress formally cites Fauci for contempt, a step that would trigger swift referral to the DOJ under Paul's stated plan, though the article does not specify a date for the committee vote itself.