Dr. Anthony Fauci was the federal employee of the year in 2020.
The award is the top honor of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals® (Sammies). Fauci received the award for his work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci was appointed Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984. He oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika.
Fauci has become a mainstay on television in the past couple of years. Any person who does not recognize him does not watch any television news shows, particularly those relating to COVID as he is a constant presence giving advice and making observations on the disease.
Fauci Pension: Largest Federal Retirement Package in History
On Christmas Eve, Dr. Anthony Fauci turned 81. He has been a federal employee for decades. He is still not a retired federal employee. If he did retire now, Fauci would reap the largest federal retirement package in U.S. history.
His annual retirement benefit from Uncle Sam would now exceed $350,000. With the COLA adjustment each year, his pension and benefits would continue to increase through these annual cost-of-living adjustments. Fauci has 55 years of service as a federal employee.
Making Enemies on Capitol Hill
Being the highest-paid employee in the federal government, qualifying to receive the highest federal retirement package in U.S. history, becoming a fixture on national TV, and providing advice often associated with political controversy and one political party will easily lead to making enemies on Capitol Hill. That is now the case with Dr. Fauci, and his enemies are not shy people.
For example, here are some quotes from Senator Rand Paul (R-KY):
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on his authoritarian claim that he unilaterally represents science.
The idea that a government official would claim to unilaterally represent science and that any criticism of that official would be considered a criticism of science itself, is quite dangerous.
Dr. Rand Paul Challenges Dr. Fauci on his Authoritarian Claim that he Unilaterally Represents Science
You appear to have learned nothing from this pandemic…What you’re doing is defining away gain-of-function…and what you’ve done is change the definition on your website to try to cover your ass, basically.
Until you accept responsibility, we’re not going to get anywhere close to trying to prevent another lab leak of this dangerous sort of experiment. You won’t admit that it’s dangerous, and for that lack of judgment, I think it’s time that you resign.
Dr. Rand Paul: “You won’t admit that it’s dangerous, and for that lack of judgment, I think it’s time that you resign.”
Fauci Calls Senator Marshall a “Moron”
Fauci told the Senate in a recent hearing that his financial disclosures were publicly available online. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) had pointed out in the hearing his financial records were not available. After Marshall asked him about his annual salary and financial disclosures, Fauci appeared incredulous at the questions from Marshall and at the inability of Marshall’s staff members to track down the financial information. According to Dr. Fauci, “I don’t understand why you’re asking me that question. My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so.”
He later added that Marshall is “so misinformed, it’s extraordinary.”
The two officials verbally sparred, culminating with Fauci stating, “what a moron,” referring to the Senator who is also a medical doctor. The insult was said quietly but was made near an open microphone.
“We cannot find them. Our office cannot find them. Where would (these financial disclosures) be if they are public knowledge?,” Senator Marshall asked the federal employee of the year at the hearing.
The Senator noted that the staff spent weeks trying to track down the financial records and had requested the information from the National Institutes of Health and Fauci’s staff.
Obviously, the Senator received the financial information. In a press release, Marshall stated that Dr. Fauci produced these previously unpublished documents.
How Does a Federal Employee Achieve Net Worth of $10 Million+?
The newly released records show that Dr. Fauci, as the highest-paid federal employee in the government, and his wife, the top bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, have a combined worth of $10.4 million. His annual salary is $434,312 a year. That is unusual as he makes more than President Biden whose salary is $400,000. His wife is also a federal employee as the Chief of Bioethics at NIH with an annual salary of $234,284.
Fauci has a contributory IRA with $638,519.70, and a brokerage trust account with $2,403,522.28 according to financial records published by Senator Marshall.
His financial accounts are with Charles Schwab. The largest is a “Schwab One Trust” which has $5,295,898.92.
His three accounts have a total of $8,337,940.90. His wife has two accounts – an IRA, with $120,277.82, and a Schwab One Trust with $1,962,819.27 for a total of $2,083,097.09.
The total amounts for both people are $10.4 million.
Surprisingly, there is not any information in the records on a Thrift Savings Plan account which often accounts for a significant amount of the total net worth for any federal employee.
The records that have been released show that Fauci and his wife were paid $13,298 to attend events and ceremonies, including three virtual events. He received $5,000 to attend an ‘RFK Ripple of Hope’ virtual awards ceremony in December 2020; $1,600 for attending ‘An Evening of Hope’ virtual event in April 2020, and $1,500 from the ‘Prepared for Life’ virtual event in October 2020.
Introducing the “FAUCI Act”
Senator Marshall plans to introduce the FAUCI Act (S. 3523) in response to the situation involving Dr. Fauci’s financial records. According to Senator Marshall, the purpose of the FAUCI Act is to require public access of financial disclosures on the official Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website for administration officials like Dr. Fauci. The FAUCI Act would also provide a list of all confidential filers within the government whose financial disclosures are not public.
The formal title of the bill is the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act.
