Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Officer to the President of the United States, said he will retire by the end of President Biden’s term, according to a new report published Monday.
Politico reported Monday that Fauci said he will retire by the end of Biden’s term following more than five decades of federal service under seven different presidential administrations.
The 81-year-old has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, Reuters reported. He became the face of the American government’s policies regarding efforts to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Fauci has worked for over 50 years in the American public health sector, advising every president since Reagan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci was a leading figure on both Trump and Biden’s coronavirus response teams.
Fauci was a regular guest on cable news, primetime television, late-night shows and podcasts offering his medical advice throughout the pandemic.
Over time, he became a politically divisive figure on the left and right regarding issues such as masks and lockdown policies.
Famously, he sparred with Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in committee hearings over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether his department within the National Institute of Health funded gain-of-function research.