Dr. Anthony Fauci, 81, the nation’s preeminent infectious-diseases expert and President Biden’s chief medical adviser, says he plans to retire before the end of Biden’s term in 2025.
“By the time we get to the end of the Biden administration term, I feel it would be time for me to step down from this position,” Fauci told the Washington Post Monday. Politico first reported his retirement plans. Fauci’s stepping down would mark the end of five decades of government service.
He gave no specific reason for his retirement, other than to say that it will be impossible to get away unless he just does it. “We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105,” he told Politico.
The upcoming midterm elections, he admits, will be tough, and he expects COVID safety measures like mask mandates and school closures to be bandied about like political weapons.
“They’re going to try and come after me, anyway,” Fauci says. “I mean, probably less so if I’m not in the job.” Regardless, he remains defiant of critics, emphasizing that they’re not the reason he’s retiring. “I don’t make that a consideration in my career decision.”
Fauci, aside from being Biden’s chief medical adviser, has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He has served seven presidents during that time and advised the country through public health crises from HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and the coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci most recently became nationally known for his leading role in the response to COVID beginning in 2020 under Donald Trump—who eventually called for him to be fired. However, Fauci told Politico that the legacy he wants to be known for is his work in the 80s and 90s with the HIV/AIDS virus.
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