Anthony Fauci plans to step down from his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December after more than 50 years in government, he announced Monday.
“I will be leaving these positions in December of this year to pursue the next chapter of my career,” 81-year-old Fauci said, noting that he is not retiring.
He also announced he will be resigning from his post as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.
Biden issued a statement about Fauci’s resignation, recalling the work he did during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’ve been able to call him at any hour of the day for his advice as we’ve tackled this once-in-a-generation pandemic. His commitment to the work is unwavering, and he does it with an unparalleled spirit, energy, and scientific integrity,” Biden said.
Fauci has served as the director of the NIAID since 1984, and has served under seven presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan.
He was one of the leading researchers battling the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s, and in 2008, former president George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work with the AIDS relief program PEPFAR.
“Over the past 38 years as NIAID Director, I have had the enormous privilege of serving under and advising seven Presidents of the United States, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, on newly emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats including HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, the anthrax attacks, pandemic influenza, various bird influenza threats, Ebola and Zika, among others, and, of course, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. I am particularly proud to have served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden since the very first day of his administration,” Fauci said in his resignation statement.
He had hinted at his resignation previously, saying in March that he would step down if Covid-19 cases remained low.
“I have said that I would stay in what I’m doing until we get out of the pandemic phase, and I think we might be there already, if we can stay in this,” Fauci said on the ABC News podcast Start Here.
“I can’t stay at this job forever. Unless my staff is going to find me slumped over my desk one day. I’d rather not do that,” he added.
Republican lawmakers scrutinized Fauci’s actions during his role as Biden’s chief medical adviser, specifically Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who repeatedly called on Fauci to step down due to his “failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Paul accused Fauci of lying to Congress and being aware that the NIH was funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, where Covid-19 may have originated.
Fauci claimed Paul didn’t know what he was talking about, and that he did not fund gain-of-function research.
“We don’t know that [Covid-19] did come from the lab, but all the evidence is pointing that it came from the lab, and there will be responsibility for those who funded the lab, including yourself,” Paul said.