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As the world begins to normalize now that the Covid-19 pandemic has been resolved, interesting stories are coming to light.
Recently, House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., revealed how 14 National Institutes of Health (NIH) members, including National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, were not properly reappointed in December of 2021, something required by law to maintain any appointed position.
Rodgers opened an investigation into the matter with help from Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Morgan Griffith, R-Va., sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to report the findings of their investigation.
In the letter to Becerra, Rodgers, Guthrie and Griffith express concern over “failure to follow the law and ensure accountability of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding at the NIH.” It is worth noting that the exact number of taxpayer dollars according to a tweet from the Energy and Commerce Committee is $26 billion.
At the time of this writing it is unclear how Becerra will respond to the findings of this investigation.
Furthermore this investigation raises an interesting question relating to NIH authority. Secretary Becerra’s neglect in reappointing these 14 NIH members raises the question of validity of the decisions they made in the timeframe of December 2021 to June 2023.
Perhaps the most notable of these decisions that were passed down in this roughly year and a half period is the aforementioned $26 billion taxpayer dollars that were used as government grants.
Some of this grant money notably went to EcoHealth Alliance and Covid-19-related guidance given by Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Biden administration during the pandemic lockdowns.