Fauci says he's ready for any potential GOP-led congressional investigations and would emphasize the significance of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters

• Dr. Anthony Fauci says he's ready for any potential COVID-related probes in a GOP-led Congress.
• Fauci said in a recent Politico interview that he would retire by the end of President Biden's term.

Throughout much of 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, was a daily presence in the homes of millions of Americans as they sought to navigate the complexities of the coronavirus.

In the earlier months of the pandemic, Fauci — a fixture in American government who was well-known for his role in tackling the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s — stressed the importance of skipping large gatherings, adhering to social-distancing measures, and seeking COVID-19 vaccinations once they became available to the public.

However, after a conservative backlash to many COVID-19 mitigation policies, including government-mandated lockdowns and school closures, Fauci's broad appeal became much more polarized.

By the time President Joe Biden took office last year, Fauci had become a huge target for many Republican lawmakers, who sought to tussle with him in congressional hearings and tie him to their concerns about the origins of COVID-19.

In a recent Politico interview, Fauci revealed that he would retire from his position by the end of Biden's term, but also said that he was ready for any GOP-led probe should the party win control of one or both chambers of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.

And he also said that his decision to step down was not tied to whether or not he'll be subject to any investigations.

"They're going to try and come after me, anyway," he told the publication. "I mean, probably less so if I'm not in the job. I don't make that a consideration in my career decision."

Fauci said that if he's called to testify before Congress, he would continue to underscore the significance of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. He also conceded that there may not be a time where the United States can clearly state that the virus has been fully cast aside — especially with the threat of newer variants.

"What we have right now, I think we're almost at a steady state," Fauci told Politico.

As of July 18, more than 1 million people have died of the coronavirus across the country, with over 89.5 million confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Many others continue to battle long COVID, which occurs when an individual who contracts the virus develops symptoms that last for an extended period of time. And those symptoms can dissipate and reappear later, causing health issues that can linger for weeks or months at a time, according to the Centers for Disease Control.