Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a new interview that he is considering stepping away from the position he’d held since 1984.
Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was asked during a podcast released March 18 whether he was mulling retirement or transitioning to a less-demanding job.
“I certainly am because I’ve got to do it sometime,” Fauci, 81, said.
“I can’t stay at this job forever, unless my staff is going to find me slumped over my desk one day. I’d rather not do that,” he added.
Fauci was appointed to his position in 1984 during the Reagan administration.
Fauci’s comments came after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) failed in his effort to get support for a measure that would eliminate the NIAID and create three new institutes in its stead.
Paul, who has clashed with Fauci during multiple congressional hearings, said Fauci has become has become a “dictator-in-chief.”
“No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans,” Paul, a doctor, said.