Fire Fauci Act
Bill: H.R.2316 | Sponsor: Rep. Greene, Marjorie Taylor (R-GA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Fire Fauci Act
This bill reduces the annual rate of pay of the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to $0. This reduction applies until there is a new director who is not Anthony Fauci, MD.
In addition, the Government Accountability Office must audit digital correspondence, policy memoranda, and financial transactions of the Office of the Director of NIAID from October 1, 2019, through December 31, 2021.

To reduce the salary of the Director of the National Institute of 
    Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to provide for an audit of the 
 correspondence, financial statements, and policy memoranda within the 
  Office of the Director during the COVID-19 outbreak, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Fauci Act''.

SEC. 2 FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and 
        Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, M.D., earned 
        $434,312 in 2020.
            (2) Dr. Fauci is not only the highest paid doctor in the 
        Federal Government, but the highest paid of any of the 
        4,000,000 Federal employees, including the President.
            (3) Part IV of the Executive Schedule generally caps 
        government salaries at $172,500, but Dr. Fauci's salary is much 
        higher due to an exception put in place to make Federal 
        salaries for doctors and scientists more competitive with the 
        private sector.
            (4) The role of the Director of the NIAID is to ``provide 
        scientific leadership, policy guidance, and overall operational 
        and administrative coordination for the Institute''.
            (5) NIAID is funded by American taxpayer dollars and, as 
        part of the National Institutes of Health, seeks to apply 
        scientific knowledge to ``enhance health, lengthen life, and 
        reduce illness and disability''.
            (6) Dr. Anthony Fauci has continually failed to provide 
        Americans with accurate information about the COVID-19 pandemic 
        and has shown distrust in the American private sector and 
        American ingenuity.
            (7) In March 2020, Dr. Fauci told Americans not to wear 
        masks, noting: ``There's no reason to be walking around with a 
        mask. When you are in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask 
        might make people feel a little bit better and it might even 
        block a droplet, but it is not providing the perfect protection 
        that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended 
        consequences--people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep 
        touching their face.''.
            (8) Now, more than a year later, he is telling Americans to 
        continue quarantining as much as possible and to wear a mask, 
        maybe even into the year 2022.
            (9) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, the vaccines have been ``highly effective'' at 
        preventing infection. Research from Johns Hopkins Medicine has 
        shown that the vaccine is 95 percent effective, and also works 
        to prevent serious illness in the 1 in 20 people who may 
        contract COVID-19 after being vaccinated. Over 100,000,000 
        vaccines have now been administered, and some studies show that 
        those who have already contracted COVID-19 may only need 1 dose 
        of the vaccine to prevent reinfection rather than the 2 
        prescribed. Despite these outcomes and his previous comments, 
        Dr. Fauci has reversed course and is now sounding the alarm on 
        COVID-19 variants, commenting: ``The way we can counter [the UK 
        variant], which is a growing threat in our country, is to do 
        two things: to get as many people vaccinated as quickly and as 
        expeditiously as possible with the vaccine that we know works 
        against this variant and, finally, to implement the public 
        health measures that we talk about all the time . . . masking, 
        physical distancing and avoiding congregant settings, 
        particularly indoors.''.
            (10) Dr. Fauci also now claims that herd immunity will 
        require 80 to 85 percent of Americans to get the vaccine.
            (11) Dr. Fauci did not believe that American companies such 
        as Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson would be able to 
        produce an effective vaccine. In August 2020, he stated that 
        the vaccine might only be 50 percent effective.

SEC. 3. SALARY LIMITATION.

    Section 401 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Rate of Pay of Director of NIAID.--
            ``(1) Reduction.--For all pay periods commencing after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the annual rate of pay of the 
        Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
        Diseases shall be reduced to $0.
            ``(2) No adjustment.--Paragraph (1) applies only until a 
        new Director of the National Institute of Allergy and 
        Infectious Diseases is appointed by the President and confirmed 
        by the Senate, excluding Dr. Anthony Fauci, M.D.''.

SEC. 4. TRANSPARENCY AUDIT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NIAID.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall complete an audit of the 
digital correspondence, policy memoranda, and financial transactions 
within the Office of the Director of the National Institute of Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases during the period of October 1, 2019, through 
December 31, 2021.
    (b) Report to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the audit 
        required pursuant to subsection (a) is completed, the 
        Comptroller General--
                    (A) shall submit to the Congress a report on the 
                results of such audit; and
                    (B) shall make such report available to the Speaker 
                of the House of Representatives, the majority and 
                minority leaders of the House of Representatives and 
                the Senate, and any other Member of Congress who 
                requests the report.
            (2) Contents.--The audit report under subsection (a) shall 
        include--
                    (A) a detailed description of the digital 
                correspondence (including text messages and emails) of 
                the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and 
                Infectious Diseases from October 1, 2019, through 
                December 31, 2021;
                    (B) financial transactions approved by the Director 
                of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
                Diseases from October 1, 2019, through December 31, 
                2021; and
                    (C) any memoranda or policy reports written within 
                the Office of the Director of the National Institute of 
                Allergy and Infectious Diseases related to the COVID-19 
                virus outbreak.
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