Bill busting future Fauci-like dictatorial powers a good post-COVID start

OPINION:

Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Chip Roy brought forward legislation in their respective congressional chambers that would bust up the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — the outlet headed by Anthony Fauci — into three separate units led by three separate Senate-confirmed picks.

This is a good start in the post-COVID lessons-learned phase to ensure a single unelected bureaucrat never again has the dictatorial-like powers to shut down an entire nation — and then pretend he didn’t do that.

Fauci, for three years, enjoyed the adoration of most in the media for his supposed steering of the nation through the coronavirus crazy, despite the fact that he issued advisements, recommendations and guidances that constantly changed, constantly flipped, constantly flopped and constantly showed as anything but scientific in cause. Fauci was consistent only in his maddening inconsistency of messaging. When called out for his inconsistencies, he complained conservatives and their conspiracies and Donald Trump and MAGA supporters. He called himself “science.” He called for the firing of media types, like Jesse Watters, who openly criticized him. He obfuscated, he deceived, he equivocated, he concealed, he outright lied and then dug deeper into lies after being outed for his original lies. He killed puppies.

OK — that last really had nothing to do with Covid. But it did come to light during Covid.

“Dr. Anthony Fauci Exposed — Beagles De-Barked, Eaten Alive,” the blog White Coat Waste Project wrote.

“Fauci Experiments on Puppies,” the Foundation for Economic Freedom wrote.

“PETA Calls on Fauci to Resign After (More) Allegations His Agency Funded Horrific Experiments on Puppies,” FEE also wrote.

Even #BeagleGate wasn’t enough to bring down Fauci, though.

Even dead puppies weren’t enough to keep most in the media from continuing to bask him in a glow normally reserved for the savior.

Now, legislation may have the final say on making sure that a Fauci Redux is not on the horizon.

Under this bill, the NIAID would be split into the National Institute of Allergic Diseases, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Immunologic Diseases, with each agency head having to go through a Senate confirmation process. The legislation also limits the agencies’ chiefs to two five-year terms; Fauci, by contrast, served as sole NIAID director from 1984 to 2022.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past few years,” Paul said, in an interview with The Daily Caller about the bill. “But one lesson in particular is that no one person should be deemed ‘dictator-in-chief.’ No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans. To ensure that ineffective, unscientific lockdowns and mandates are never foisted on the American people ever again, I’ve introduced this bill to eliminate Dr. Anthony Fauci’s previous position as director of the [NIAID] and divide the role.”

More accountability to the people.

Less ‘I am zee law!’ medical-based and bureaucratic dictates.

President Joe Biden would never sign off on this legislation. The Democrat-controlled House would never move it forward to the president’s desk to not sign, anyway.

But it’s a good start in the post-COVID battle to get rights back into the hands of the American people, where they belong.

The biggest lesson learned from Covid and the lockdowns is Never Again.

This bill is a start down that path. And if it won’t pass in Congress, then it certainly serves as a model for future Republican-dominated congresses and White Houses. 

With the lockdowns and the failings of schools to educate children, and the forced closing of businesses by government dictate, and the rising, ever-rising, federal deficit due in part to stimulus check giveaways that stretched taxpayer pockets thin — with all that still fresh on the minds of voters, chances are a Republican-dominated Capitol Hill isn’t long in coming.

And when it comes, this bill, or one like it, must be a legislative priority.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE  or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.