Dr. Anthony Fauci has become the face of the pandemic, appearing on multiple news talk shows as well as in press conferences and briefings. He has worked since the Reagan Administration in some type of advisory role to multiple presidents. Currently, he is the Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden and his administration. Fauci is also a prominent member of the National Institute of Health, where he has worked in some function throughout his career.
Fauci’s resume is lengthy and impressive. Now, at the age of 81, Fauci is poised to collect the largest federal retirement in the history of the United States.
Currently, Dr. Fauci is the highest paid employee of the federal government, with a salary of $434,321 (during 2020). That’s higher than the presidential salary of $400,000 annually.
Although Dr. Fauci has publicly said that he has no plans to retire soon, if he were to step down from his position at the national Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he would be eligible for the largest federal retirement package in American history.
OpenTheBooks.com, which is made up of auditors from Forbes Magazine, Dr. Fauci’s fifty-five years of service would qualify him for an annual retirement package of $350,000. He would also receive yearly cost of living adjustments that could increase the overall yearly retirement income Anthony Fauci could receive.
Fauci’s current salary not only outranks the president’s, but it is also higher than the salary of the highest ranking members of the military as well as other federal government employees across the nation.
Fauci told Johnathan Karl (of ABC) earlier this December that he refused to walk away from his position until the pandemic was under control. Fauci has been at the helm of other infectious disease task force groups since the 1980s when HIV and AIDS became known. He has also overseen research and development around Ebola outbreaks, SARS, and MERS, to name a few. Fauci’s statement that he won’t walk away in the middle of the pandemic seems to hold with his history of working to lessen the effects of these other health crises in America.
Unfortunately, Fauci has become highly criticized for his advise as well as what some deem as misinformation during the current pandemic. Fauci’s advise on masking (first, Fauci claimed masks had no effect on the spread of COVID-19, then he lauded the use of multiple masks to prevent the spread) then his subsequent push for lockdowns and other mandates during the last two years.
Just recently, Fauci has been criticized for his statements regarding masking on airplanes as well as comments on vaccines.
One of Fauci’s most outspoken critics is Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who has taken Dr. Fauci to task a number of times, particularly during Congressional hearings. Paul has alleged that Fauci has lied to Congress on a number of issues, but calls for Fauci to be fired or otherwise held accountable for these alleged untruths have gone unanswered.
Fauci has also been under fire for the release of information that the National Institute of Health has taken taxpayer money that is being used to fund experiments on animals; one study in particular used Beagle puppies to study the effects of sandfly bites.
A recent report found that the NIH paid a Virginia company over $1 million for these dogs.
Former Trump advisor Dr. Peter Navarro has said that while Fauci seems to have “a good bedside manner” where the public is concerned, “(Fauci) has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.”
