Senate Panel Issues Subpoena to Fauci After He Withdraws from Voluntary Testimony

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul issued a subpoena on Monday requiring Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify in public next month. Paul said Fauci had agreed to appear voluntarily earlier but withdrew that commitment last week. The subpoena marks the first use of unilateral subpoena authority by the committee chair since the panel granted that power last year.

Background on the Dispute Paul has questioned Fauci about his role in discussions of research conducted at a laboratory in China and about public statements on the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The two men have clashed in prior Senate hearings held during the Biden administration.

Paul has stated that Fauci and other officials sought to dismiss the possibility that the virus originated in a laboratory. He has also called for Fauci to face indictment over testimony given to Congress about gain-of-function research.

Fauci told CNBC on Tuesday that negotiations over documents and testimony had continued for some time. He said the former infectious-diseases official had agreed to appear voluntarily before notifying the committee last week that he would not attend.

>"We’ve been negotiating with him for material and for testimony. This has gone on for some time. He slow walked us and slow walked us. Finally agreed to come in voluntarily ... " — Rand Paul, June 2026 (X post) Paul stated that the committee will proceed with the subpoena unless Fauci contests it in court.