Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced a bill on Thursday that would break apart the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which Dr. Anthony Fauci previously led.
Dubbed the “NIH Reform Act,” the bill would break apart NIAID, which is a component agency of the National Institute of Health (NIH). The bill would reallocate the various responsibilities of NIAID into three new separate national research institutes: the National Institute of Allergic Diseases; the National Institute of Infectious Diseases; and the National Institute of Immunologic Diseases.
Furthermore, the bill would require that the directors of these three new research institutes be subject to a Senate confirmation process, with the directors limited to no more than two five-year terms. In calling for these term limits and Senate confirmation requirements, the Republican lawmakers noted that the NIAID’s previous director, Fauci, had served for nearly four decades before retiring around the end of last year….