When Dr. Anthony Fauci retires, he will receive the largest federal retirement package in United States history, according to Forbes, with a golden parachute that would exceed $350,000 per year.
“Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com estimate Dr. Fauci’s annual retirement would exceed $350,000. Thereafter, his pension and benefits would continue to increase through annual cost-of-living adjustments,” Forbes reported. “Fauci has 55 years of service as a federal employee.”
As the outlet noted, Fauci was the highest-paid federal employee for the second year in a row, out-earning the President of the United States and more than 4 million of his federal colleagues.
“As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Fauci earned $434,312 in 2020, the latest year available, up from $417,608 in 2019,” Forbes explained. Between the years of 2018 and 2020 alone, Fauci earned a total of $1.252 million in salary.
ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Fauci whether he has plans to retire.
“There’s no way I’m going to walk away from this until we get this under control. I mean, that’s the purpose of what we do. That’s – that’s our mission in life. In the middle of it, I’m not going to walk away,” Fauci responded. “You know, we’re in a war, Jon. It’s kind of like we’re halfway through World War II, and you decide, well, I think I’ve had enough of this. I’m walking away.”
“You can’t do that. You’ve got to finish it — and we’re going to finish this and get back to normal,” Fauci said.
Fauci echoed this viewpoint in an interview last month with CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“I’m the head of an institute that actually played the major role in the development of the vaccines that have saved now millions of lives from COVID-19,” Fauci said. “I’m the director of the institute that has now been very important in the basic research in leading to the drugs that will now have an important impact in the treatment of COVID-19. That’s what I do.”
“So, I’m going to keep doing that until this COVID-19 outbreak is in the rearview mirror, regardless of what anybody says about me, or wants to lie and create crazy fabrications because of political motivations,” Fauci added.
As well as being the highest-paid federal employee, Fauci is one of the longest-serving in the federal government. Fauci first joined the NIH in 1966, and was appointed director of the NIAID in 1984.
As The Daily Wire reported in January 2021: “Fauci, who earned his medical degree from Cornell University, raked in $3.6 million between 2010 and 2019 and last got a raise in 2014, when his pay went from $335,000 to its present rate of $417,608. Even if he doesn’t get another raise, Fauci will make another $2.5 million between 2019 and 2024.”
As Forbes noted, Fauci has seemingly downplayed how much money he is making and continues to make, telling Matthew McConaughey in an interview that he does not have millions invested in potential vaccines. “Matthew, no, I got zero!” Fauci said. “I am a government worker. I have a government salary.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.