Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, House Republicans introduce legislation to oust Fauci

WASHINGTON D.C. - A group of House Republicans, including two from Georgia, introduced legislation with the intention of removing Dr. Anthony Fauci as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, accusing him of misinforming former President Donald Trump and Americans with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the sponsor of the bill. She said Tuesday she was proud to sponsor the "Fire Fauci Act," explaining Americans "deserve answers" to government shutdowns during 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greene said the act, if passed, will "bring Fauci's salary to zero" and requires the U.S. Senate to confirm a replacement for his position.

"Dr. Fauci was not elected by the American people, he was not chosen to guide our economy, he was not chosen to rule over parents and their children's education, but yet Dr. Fauci very much controlled our lives over the past year," Greene said.

Earlier this month, thousands of Fauci's emails became public, prompting Republican outrage over his decision not to aggressively pursue the theory that coronavirus could have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China earlier.

In one February 2020 email, he also said wearing a mask was "not really effective in keeping out the virus," though the disease expert has already admitted he downplayed the effectiveness of masks in part so that supply would not run low for medical professionals.

Fauci became a household name when he regularly began to appear in White House briefings on the pandemic alongside former President Donald Trump in 2020.

Greene placed the blame for multiple economic and medical crises, including an increase in suicide attempts during the pandemic, at Fauci's feet.

"People that are not elected by the American people should never be governing, never be controlling our lives," Greene said.

She referenced theories the virus that causes COVID-19 is man-made sending a letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month demanding those answers by the arbitrary deadline of June 31, a date which does not exist.

In the tweet, Greene wrote, "The American people deserve answers on the Wuhan lab & Fauci deserves to be held accountable!"

Biden ordered U.S. intelligence officials to "redouble" their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory. After months of minimizing these claims as a fringe theory, the Biden administration is joining worldwide pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak. It aims to head off GOP complaints that Biden has not been tough enough and to use the opportunity to press China on alleged obstruction.

Co-sponsors of Greene's bill include Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-Illinois), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia), Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), Rep. Gregory W. Steube (R-Florida), and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama).

Greene rejected the idea that the bill was fueling anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S. and was in fact contributing to the spread of misinformation. The White House stated a thorough investigation and data are required to make determinations about the origin of the virus.

The freshman congresswoman this week also apologized for her comparing House safety rules like mask-wearing to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany after both parties condemned her comments.

Rep. Greene apologizes for comments

Georgia members of the Jewish community react to apology from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene about her comparing House safety rules which, among other things, required the wearing of masks to the Holocaust.