Senate holds Fauci hearing as Graham sanctions bill clears procedural vote 86-12

Six Republican senators issued releases describing their exchanges with Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday. Fauci declined to answer every question, citing his Fifth Amendment right.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., opened his questioning by disputing Fauci's ability to invoke that right at all. "Let's just get one thing straight: you don't have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you've been pardoned, as you very well know, as the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more. Brown v. Walker, 1896. 'When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege.'" Hawley accused Fauci of using federal employees to solicit personal cash awards during the pandemic, including a $900,000 Dan David Award. "You turned your staff into a full-time application machine," Hawley said.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., pressed Fauci on the forced closure of churches and a note Fauci wrote on May 6, 2020, about missed measles vaccinations. "On May 6th, 2020 you wrote, at that time, 'I had a conversation with Robert Redfield' ... about the fact that greater than 1 million children worldwide have missed their measles vaccination because of the shutdown," Lankford quoted. "You stated, 'This is terrible and needs to be addressed, since on that basis alone there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children.'" Fauci declined to respond.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., closed his questioning with a personal statement. "You lied to hundreds of millions of people amid the worst public health crisis in a century. You failed to follow your own guidance. You forced people to watch their loved ones die alone over the phone... We have entire generations of Americans who, rightfully so, do not trust our institutions to keep people safe because of you."

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, prompted Fauci to turn and face audience members who had been harmed by pandemic policies. When Fauci declined, Moreno said: "You may have had a fifty plus year legacy of public service, but it ends in a total and complete disgrace." Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said on Fox News ahead of the hearing that Fauci "destroyed the trust of the American public for government and for vaccines as well," and called for a special counsel. At the close of his questioning, Lankford raised a parliamentary question to the chairman about whether Fauci's pattern of delivering an opening statement and then refusing questions mirrored the 2014 contempt finding against former IRS official Lois Lerner.

The Senate voted 86-12 Monday night to proceed to the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which would impose secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian and Iranian oil and gas and extend the Iran Sanctions Act. The vote came the same day senators attended Graham's funeral at the National Cathedral.

In a floor statement, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said Graham had told her personally that this legislation "would be the most consequential piece of legislation that he ever led and got to the President's desk." Britt recalled Graham's words at Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day: "'I want you to remember how important the decisions we as political leaders make, because if we fail to do our job, young men and women are sent into ...'" — the release ends the quotation there.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., argued the sanctions target Russia's core vulnerability. "Energy is the cash cow of Putin's war machine. It is also Russia's Achilles's Heel. Cut it off, and Russia cannot continue to fight. Russia's biggest customer is Communist China. The next is India. They will be hit hard," Barrasso said in prepared remarks.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" on Tuesday that Senate Republicans are prepared to remain in Washington through the planned August recess until the SAVE America Act — legislation that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections — reaches the president's desk.

"Whatever it takes, if it is staying here, if it's breaking the bill in pieces, doing pieces one at a time, whatever we need to do to make certain that we pass the SAVE Act is what we need to do," Blackburn said. "We're all in on getting the SAVE Act passed."

Blackburn said she has begun advancing portions of the legislation individually and highlighted a separate bill she introduced to require states to verify voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. She noted that 26 states already use the database and 24 do not. The Senate's August state work period is 12 days away.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., joined 15 Senate colleagues Tuesday to reintroduce the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which would remove cannabis from the federal controlled substances schedule and allow states to set their own laws.

"Congress should follow Colorado's lead and bring our nation's marijuana laws into the 21st century," Bennet said. "The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is long overdue and will help protect the legal cannabis economy as well as address historic inequities in our justice system."

Hickenlooper noted Colorado legalized marijuana fourteen years ago. "Yet, the federal government continues to drag its feet. We need to deschedule and decriminalize marijuana, then finish the job and expunge the records of everyone who was charged with federal marijuana crimes," he said. The bill is cosponsored by 15 additional senators including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

A bipartisan group of eight senators — four Democrats, three Republicans, and one independent — introduced the PROMISE Act on Tuesday to create a formal congressional process for addressing Social Security's projected 2032 shortfall. The Social Security Board of Trustees has found the trust fund will cover only 78 percent of benefits at that point.

"Here is our chance to agree on a bipartisan process to rescue Social Security this year," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Our bipartisan proposal opens Congress to debate this issue in a transparent, fair, and bipartisan way. We were elected to solve problems — and there's no greater problem than the solvency and future of Social Security."

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., one of the Republican cosponsors, warned that inaction compounds the problem. "The modest reforms Congress contemplated in 2010 would have put Social Security on solid footing for 75 years; today, those same reforms would add less than two years to our current runway," Tillis said. The bill is led by Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Durbin, and also cosponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Angus King, I-Maine, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Alan Armstrong, R-Okla.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., along with Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., opened a new investigation Tuesday into whether HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s family may be financially benefiting from a $50 million Merck settlement of Gardasil vaccine lawsuits — cases for which Kennedy was listed as attorney of record.

"This settlement appears to reinforce a lucrative and dangerous playbook — litigators with ties to anti-vaccine organizations sue drug companies with scientifically dubious claims and undermine trust in vaccines and America's public health as a result," the senators wrote. After earlier Senate pressure, Kennedy transferred his 10 percent referral fee stake in the Gardasil cases to his son, a move the senators said legal experts have called "a loophole" in federal ethics law.

"Now, it appears that your son could stand to gain millions of dollars from Merck's recent settlement agreement, raising fresh concerns about conflicts of interest," the lawmakers wrote. The senators set an August 11, 2026, deadline for Kennedy to answer whether he played any role in the settlement and how much money he has personally received from vaccine injury lawsuits while serving as secretary.

In a floor statement, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have offered defense spending increases of more than four dollars for every one dollar in nondefense funding — a ratio she called unacceptable. "Republicans want to deliver over four new dollars in defense [funding] for every dollar in nondefense," Murray said.

Murray said she and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, are working on a continuing resolution to carry the government into December, ahead of an October 1 deadline when she said roughly $65 billion in annual Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding runs dry. "No one wants a shutdown in October, so I have been working with Chair Collins to prepare a CR that takes us into December," Murray said.

Does it have to be this way? Murray argued the last three years of bipartisan topline deals show it doesn't. "Congress is not an ATM for Trump's forever wars," she said.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., introduced the Children Harmed by AI Technology (CHAT) Act 2.0, a bipartisan bill that would establish a tiered federal framework governing AI companion chatbots and their interactions with minors.

"We need to protect children in the digital world the same way we do in the physical world. As AI becomes more advanced and more accessible, we have a responsibility to make sure these tools are not exposing children to dangerous, manipulative or inappropriate interactions," Husted said. The bill would prohibit companion chatbots from encouraging self-harm, generating sexual content, impersonating humans, or engaging in emotionally manipulative or romantic interactions with minors.

The legislation builds on Husted's September 2025 CHAT Act and adds a three-tier risk framework — covering educational, companion, and health chatbots — along with FTC and state attorney general enforcement authority. Kim said: "We all just want peace of mind that our kids will be okay growing up in this era of algorithms and AI."

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., passed by unanimous consent Tuesday a Senate resolution opposing any presidential clemency or pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted child trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator — one day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Todd Blanche's nomination for Attorney General.

Rosen said that under Blanche's supervision at the Department of Justice, the department met with Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year sentence — "in order to get her to say positive things about Trump," after which Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison. Rosen also noted that Blanche called Maxwell's lawyer "a friend" and "someone I know pretty well" in a podcast interview, and that President Trump has refused to rule out a pardon.

The Blanche Judiciary Committee vote is expected Wednesday.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced multiple bills Tuesday. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., announced passage of his bill extending bonus payment periods for coal mine leases from five to ten years. "Nearly half of all coal produced in America comes from Wyoming," Barrasso said. "My legislation would extend the bonus payment period for coal mine leases, which allows coal companies to spread out their financial risk when investing in new mines."

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced committee passage of two water infrastructure bills — one reauthorizing the Fort Peck Dry Prairie Rural Water System through December 2028 and another reauthorizing the Cooperative Watershed Management Program for four years. "Access to safe water is a basic necessity, and I'm thrilled to see that my bipartisan bills improving water infrastructure in Montana have passed out of committee," Daines said.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced his bill to initiate a National Scenic Trail feasibility study for the 550-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail advanced unanimously from the same committee. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., announced committee passage of his bipartisan Gateway Partnership Act, which would authorize the Gateway Arch National Park to enter a management agreement with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation for private events — projecting $780,000 in annual revenue to be reinvested in the park.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., delivered a keynote address at a Center for American Progress immigration event Tuesday, calling for a pathway to citizenship for long-resident immigrants and introducing the Fairness for Immigrant Families Act. She cited Center for American Progress polling showing "68% of voters still support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who have spent decades living in and contributing to our country."

Later in the day, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., took to the Senate floor to block a Democratic bill that would have granted permanent resident status to Temporary Protected Status holders. Schmitt framed his objection in categorical terms: "Temporary was always meant to become permanent. It is the final stage of their scam." He said he objected last week to extending TPS for 350,000 Haitians and would continue objecting to similar measures. "Temporary must mean temporary. Deportation must mean departure. The law must mean something," Schmitt said.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced the American Hiring Transparency Act, which would impose a $10,000 fee on employers filing labor certification applications to hire foreign workers under the PERM system, with proceeds directed to upgrade USAJOBS.gov. "American workers deserve a fair shot at the American Dream," Scott said.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., joined bipartisan legislation to repeal Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik trade restrictions on Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. "As China and Russia deepen their foothold across Central Asia, outdated Jackson-Vanik restrictions are undermining our relationships with key regional partners," Bennet said.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Taxpayer Advocacy Act to expand the independence and authority of the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, including provisions to keep the service operational during government shutdowns. Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act, which would amend DAR's federal charter to limit membership to biological women. "There's a reason the founders of this group named it the DAUGHTERS of the American Revolution," Tuberville said. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., joined a bill to permanently eliminate CAFE fuel economy standards, the RAAM Act, effective model year 2029.

Signals

• volume38 releases today is 63% below the Wednesday baseline of 102.9 — the lowest relative volume in the tracked period.
• coordinatedSix Republican senators (Hawley, Marshall, Lankford, Moreno, Scott, and Marshall again) issued releases tied to the Fauci hearing within a four-hour window, the largest single-topic coordinated release cluster of the day.
• silent breaksSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been silent for 15 days; Graham died before the brief period and is the namesake of the Russia-Iran sanctions bill that cleared its procedural vote 86-12 Tuesday.
• voteSenate Judiciary Committee vote on Todd Blanche's Attorney General nomination is scheduled for Wednesday, July 30.
• recessThe August state work period is 12 days away; Sen. Blackburn explicitly called for the Senate to remain in session past that window until the SAVE America Act passes.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC15d