RAND PAUL NEEDS A COMPASS CHECK ON VENEZUELA AND FAUCI

Paul’s Record as a Military Roadblock
Paul has a well-documented record of hindering U.S. military or counterterror operations through procedural objections and “principled” speeches:
Yemen War Powers Act (2018–2019): Paul voted to end U.S. support for Saudi-led operations, a move vetoed by Trump.
Syria (2023 & 2025): Introduced resolutions to force troop withdrawals, all of which failed by wide margins in the Senate.
Niger (2023): Tried to block deployments against jihadist networks, defeated 86–11.
Iraq AUMF Repeals: Pressed for blanket repeals that went far beyond what Congress was willing to accept, and lost by lopsided votes.

Paul’s record during COVID-19:
He became one of Fauci’s most visible critics. In multiple Senate hearings (2020–2022), Paul accused Fauci of misleading Congress about NIH funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Those confrontations were widely covered in outlets like The Hill, Politico, and Fox News.
After the hearings:
Despite fiery exchanges, Paul did not follow through with a formal criminal referral to the Department of Justice. He did urge DOJ investigations and at one point sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, asking for a perjury probe into Fauci’s testimony. But DOJ never acted, and Paul didn’t escalate with formal Senate action beyond rhetoric and press releases.
On CDC/NIH accountability generally:
Paul introduced bills to cut funding or restructure NIH oversight, but he never spearheaded or achieved indictments or criminal prosecutions for Fauci, CDC officials, or others. No Senate committee reports under his name produced binding referrals, unlike, for example, the Senate’s past work on steroid use in baseball or Iran-Contra.