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Today’s top stories

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is threatening to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and did not answer any questions about the coronavirus pandemic during a Senate committee hearing yesterday. Fauci played a key role as the nation’s top infectious disease expert throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The two have long clashed over the origins of COVID-19. Just days before the hearing, Paul released over 1,000 pages of Fauci’s private diary entries from the pandemic period, accusing him of hiding the truth about COVID-19’s origins.

• 🎧 Invoking the Fifth Amendment doesn’t equate to admitting wrongdoing, NPR’s Ari Daniel tells Up First. Before leaving office, President Biden granted Fauci a blanket pardon covering him from 2014 to early 2025. Experts warn that Fauci could still face perjury charges if he contradicts his previous statements under oath. Paul plans to hold a vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress, which could potentially lead to fines or jail time. Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, tells Daniel that this hearing, coupled with recent federal budget cuts, harms public health in the U.S. Now, more urgently than ever, educated and evidence-based health policies are needed, but could be challenging if people fear attacks like Fauci is facing, Benjamin added.
• ➡️ Fauci’s pandemic diaries have sparked renewed curiosity in the debate over where SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, came from. Here’s what the evidence shows.

The Trump administration has announced a new rule change to the asylum process, which thousands depend on to escape violence and persecution. Asylum officers can now send some cases straight to immigration court without an interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer. These interviews normally allow asylum seekers to present their case, after which they can either advance or get referred to immigration court. The rule change comes as the administration has narrowed the opportunities to seek asylum and restricted who can be approved for it. Asylum approval rates are the lowest they’ve been in at least 20 years. The change also comes as hundreds of thousands of people who are poised to lose Temporary Protected Status (TPS) actively seek new ways to remain in the U.S., including asylum. An NPR analysis breaks down how the Trump administration has undermined the U.S. asylum program.

• 🎧 The challenges don’t end even for those who get approved for asylum, NPR’s Ximena Bustillo says. New policies render them ineligible for some safety-net programs for food, healthcare and small-business loans. Those still awaiting decisions may experience delays in work permit issuance, and since applying for asylum doesn’t provide legal status, they also risk deportation. What the administration is doing is a “concerted attack on asylum from all fronts,” Matt Joseph, a former asylum officer who now works at the advocacy group Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, tells Bustillo.