Paul, Roy introduce bill to replace NIAID with three agencies with Senate-confirmed heads

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the NIH Reform Act to replace the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, run for 38 years by Dr. Anthony Fauci, and replace it with three separate agencies with Senate-confirmed heads. 

"From the earliest days of the pandemic, unaccountable public health bureaucrats proved themselves far more adept at ruining lives than saving them," Roy said on Thursday, the day of the bill's introduction. "Never again should a single individual, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, wield unchecked power and influence over the lives of the American people."

The bill would abolish the NIAID and replace it with the National Institute of Allergic Diseases, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Immunologic Diseases. The directors of each agency would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to no more than two 5-year terms. 

Fauci, by contrast, was appointed to lead NIAID in 1984 by then-National Institutes of Health Director James Wyngaarden. During his last year at NIAID, Fauci made more than $480,600, more than the president, according to FedsDataCenter.com.

"This will create accountability and oversight into a taxpayer funded position that has largely abused its power and has been responsible for many failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. Paul said.