Tipsheet

As He Gets Ready to Chair the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Rand Paul Has a Target in Mind

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 14, 2024 5:00 PM

Earlier on Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced that he will serve as the chairman for the Homeland Security Committee, where he serves as the ranking member. As a chairman, Paul will have that much more authority to go after a familiar target: Dr. Anthony Fauci, formerly the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). We had actually previewed such hopes in 2022, if Republicans were able to secure the majority in the Senate, though it was not meant to be. This Thursday announcement comes as Paul had also promised to keep investigating Fauci even as he resigned in September 2022. 

"I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as 15th Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the modern era. I chose to chair this Committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role. This Committee’s mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself. Our first hearing will examine reinstating the successful Remain in Mexico policy from the first Trump Administration. We will also expeditiously move President Trump’s critical nominees, including Governor Kristi Noem, in time for Inauguration Day. I look forward to continuing the storied history of this Committee’s leadership in consequential bipartisan oversight and investigations," Paul said in a statement.

Beyond that statement, there's also been buzz about Paul getting to investigate Fauci and a COVID-19 coverup. David Strom shared his thoughts while writing at our sister site of RedState, which included citing a report from the New York Post. Paul also reposted the article.

As that report mentioned, citing Paul:

Sen. Rand Paul will take over the chairmanship of the upper chamber’s Homeland Security Committee starting in January after two years as the panel’s top Republican — and he’s told The Post he wants to uncover the truth about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I chose to chair this committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role,” Paul (R-Ky.) said in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “This committee’s mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself.”

“I think we’re on the cusp of, really, the beginning of uncovering what happened with COVID,” the 61-year-old added.

After years of subpoenaing government agencies about research grants and funding related to the origins of the coronavirus, Paul believes his newfound power — coupled with a sympathetic president in the White House come Jan. 20 — will help promote transparency.

“We are going to, hopefully, have a friendlier administration, and we’re hoping that there will be a friendly person at [the Department of Health and Human Services], and we’re hoping they’ll be friendly at [the National Institutes of Health],” he said.

Since the interview was published, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was selected by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, as Katie covered earlier on Thursday. 

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Paul also posted his congratulations.

It goes beyond just COVID, though, as Paul also laid out, but other related concerns, such as curbing gain-of-function research and censorship:

Paul is also spearheading an effort to pass the Risky Research Review Act, which would pump the brakes on dangerous scientific work — like the gain-of-function research many believe created the virus which caused the worst global outbreak in a century.

“The biggest item of the COVID coverup is that for years, we’ve known there is this dangerous research,” said Paul, who added that he wants to ensure Americans are free to discuss such topics without fear of suppression by the government in tandem with social media companies.

Paul recalled being censored on YouTube for saying cloth masks don’t work against COVID-19 and Twitter’s censorship of The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election as examples of abuse of power by both the government and Big Tech.

“The idea that the government would pre-emptively be telling people not to publish things, to me, is horrendous,” he said. 

As Townhall covered at the time, Paul was suspended for seven days from YouTube in August 2021 for his points about the efficacy of masks. The suspension came despite Paul sharing his knowledge as a medical doctor. As he told Townhall during a press call, he "without question" considered his suspension to be a pattern. 

Months later, when The New York Times conceded that cloth masks did not protect against the virus, Paul also posted, "Does this mean snot-nosed censors at YouTube will come to my office and kiss my … and admit I was right?" 

In addition to posting the interview on Thursday, he also posted scoop from Reason. 

As that report mentioned:

When Republicans officially take control of the U.S. Senate in January, a longtime critic of the national security state and the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will helm a committee with the power to investigate both.

As the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) says he aims to do exactly that.

"I intend to restore our Committee's rightful place as the oversight body of the Senate," Paul wrote in a letter sent to his Senate colleagues on Thursday, shared with Reason.

Paul, who has been the top Republican on the committee for the past two years, said he would continue the committee's investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Secret Service's security failures surrounding the assassination attempts against Donald Trump. He also promised "new investigations into executive branch failures and abuses, as well as conducting oversight of every dollar spent by the government."

...

But it seems likely that Paul will keep the committee's attention largely focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and the role that the federal government played in funding gain-of-function research at the lab in Wuhan, China, where the disease is believed to have originated. That's been a priority for Paul in recent years, and investigatory work led by his office helped to confirm the "lab leak" theory that public health authorities had initially dismissed.

Townhall has been covering Fauci and Paul's memorable moments over the years in committee hearings investigating the origins of COVID. Paul has continued to speak out about being right about Fauci, despite the death threats he's received. 

It's not just Paul who has Fauci in mind, though, but Elon Musk, who was also instrumental in Trump's win last week. Earlier this week, Musk posted a reminder that he's still interested in seeing Fauci prosecuted.