Dr. Fauci discusses his retirement plans
Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on CNN Monday to discuss his future plans for retirement, saying he plans to leave his position before the end of Biden's first term.
Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed Monday that he would be out of government work by 2025 but denied any "pressures" or "nonsense" were forcing him out.
"I can’t be in this job forever, and I don’t anticipate I will be in this job at the end of the first term of President Biden, which is January 2025," he told CNN's Kate Bolduan on "At This Hour" Monday.
Pushing aside rumors that announcing his retirement would be imminent, he assured viewers it is not bound to occur soon. He told Politico in an interview published earlier Monday essentially the same thing, noting that COVID-19 was not going to go away any time soon. Fauci is both the Biden White House chief medical adviser and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (AP)
"Somehow, that got interpreted that it’s announcing my retirement," he told Bolduan.
"I just said that it is extremely unlikely. In fact, for sure that I’m not going to be here beyond January 2025. So sometime between now and January 2025, you can guarantee I’ll step down."
Fauci went on to discuss why he is considering retirement before 2025, citing his passion and energy to do other things.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, right, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks as Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looks on during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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"I have established, as 38 years as director of NIAID, I think the best program in the world when it comes to infectious diseases. Everybody is in a position of any influence in my institute, I handpick, so it’s something that I’ve been working on for almost four decades, so we have a good system in place," he said.
"Obviously, you can’t go on forever. I do want to do other things in my career. Even though I’m at a rather advanced age, I have the energy and the passion to continue to want to pursue other aspects of my professional career, and I’m going to do that sometime. I’m not exactly sure when, but I don’t see myself being in this job to the point where I can’t do anything else after that."
Fauci also assured Bolduan his pending decision has nothing to do with criticism from the COVID-19 pandemic and his decision to retire at some point is entirely his own.
"It has nothing to do with pressures, nothing to do with all the other nonsense that you hear about. That has no influence on me," he said.
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He indicated to Politico he might be called to testify at hearings investigating the COVID-19 response and the virus' possible origins if Republicans take control of Congress; Fauci has been a subject of scorn among numerous Republicans as the face of lockdowns and other controversial mitigation measures he's championed.
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