Fauci鈥檚 critics, like Sen. Rand Paul, have seized on diary entries detailing his conversations with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio just prior to that city’s 2020 shutdown. But that criticism errs by collapsing two different things. Fauci plainly supported the initial school closures, as did most Republican and Democratic officials. The more relevant question is whether he advised keeping schools closed on a broad scale the following year.

Fauci has long maintained that he did not. 

In August 2020, as districts wrestled with whether to reopen, he National Geographic, 鈥渢here are areas and regions of the country 鈥� where the level of infection is low enough that you really should try very hard to get the children back to school.鈥� Four years later, Fauci the same account. 鈥淚 kept on saying, 鈥楥lose the bars, open the schools,鈥� 鈥� he told CBS News: 鈥淚nitially to close it down was correct. Keeping [schools closed] for a year was not a good idea.鈥� 

Unfortunately, if that was Fauci鈥檚 intended message, it largely failed to reach the public.

Several surveys I conducted for a book on the politics of pandemic school closures show that Americans understood Fauci鈥檚 position very differently. My evidence comes from three sources. The is a November 2022 YouGov panel of 1,000 U.S. adults, with samples weighted to represent the national adult population. The is a December 2023 of 5,000 elected school board members, with responses weighted to reflect the demographic characteristics of school districts nationwide. The was a 2025 YouGov survey with the same parameters as the one I conducted in 2022. 

Together, this assortment of data reveals how Americans and local school officials understood the case for prolonged school closures, and which public authorities they believed stood behind them. Three findings from these surveys are especially relevant to the renewed debate over Fauci鈥檚 role. 

First: Whether, fairly or not, Fauci became the public face of keeping schools closed.

In the 2022 and 2023 surveys, I asked respondents whether they thought various political leaders and organizations believed that keeping schools closed throughout the 2020-21 school year was strongly justified, somewhat justified, somewhat unjustified or strongly unjustified. The list included Fauci, Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the Democratic and Republican parties, and teachers unions.

Overall, 57% of the 2022 respondents said they believed Fauci thought keeping schools closed during that time was strongly justified, a higher number than for any other leader or group. School board members were even more likely to reach that conclusion: Over 7 in 10 believed Fauci viewed prolonged closures as strongly justified.

What’s more, the idea that Fauci supported prolonged school closures cannot simply be dismissed as a partisan talking point: 63% of Democratic and 57% of Republican respondents held that view.

Second: Compared with those who thought Fauci opposed prolonged school closures, respondents who said they believed Fauci viewed lengthy shutdowns as necessary were far more likely to conclude 鈥� even after vaccines had become available 鈥� that it was too risky for both students and educators to return to their classrooms. 

Specifically, in the 2022 survey, I asked respondents how risky it was for either a 10-year-old child or a 50-year-old teacher to return to elementary school. Those who believed Fauci supported school closures were about twice as likely as those who thought he opposed them to say school remained too risky for students and about 40% more likely to say the vaccinated teacher still faced substantial risk. To be clear, this does not prove that Fauci caused those perceptions. Americans who already feared reopening may instead have assumed he agreed with them about various risks. But it does show how closely Fauci鈥檚 public image had become tied to continued fears about returning to school.

Taken together, these findings suggest that Fauci had become more than a public health official. For many Americans, his perceived position on school closures served as a cue for judging the risks of reopening, even after vaccines had become widely available.

Third: I wanted to know what mattered more when Americans were asked to look back and reflect on the wisdom of prolonged school closures: evidence about what happened to children or the positions of public figures like Fauci.

To get at this, I ran an experiment in the 2025 survey. First, all participants were reminded that many public schools had remained closed even after vaccines became available, while bars and restaurants had reopened. Then, the respondents were then randomly divided into four groups. One group received no additional information. The other three were told that research showed school closures caused lasting academic harm; that Trump had opposed keeping schools closed; or that Fauci had publicly rejected lengthy shutdowns. I then asked everyone whether keeping schools closed for more than a year had been the right or wrong decision.

Regardless of the information they received, about two-thirds of Republican respondents said they believed it was the wrong decision. Among Democrats, however, the information mattered. Just one-third of those who received only the basic facts said prolonged closures had been wrong. Reminding them of the evidence on learning loss barely changed that judgment. But when they learned that Fauci himself had rejected year-long closures, nearly half concluded the policy had been wrong.

Faced with a choice between evidence about the consequences for children and cues from trusted leaders, many Americans appeared to place greater weight on the messenger than the evidence. Fauci, not research on learning loss or Trump’s position, proved to be the persuasive cue. call this follow-the-leader politics. People often rely on trusted elites to interpret complex issues rather than evaluating the underlying evidence themselves.

In sum, Fauci may be correct about what he intended to communicate. But my surveys suggest that most Americans, including the school board members responsible for reopening classes, heard something very different. Fauci鈥檚 public standing became closely associated with support for keeping schools closed, shaping how many Americans understood the risks of reopening and, ultimately, judged one of the most consequential policy decisions of the pandemic.

Subpoenaed by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to decline to respond, and accused the senator of an 鈥渦nhinged obsession鈥� with putting him in jail. Former President Joe Biden for any crimes he may have committed dating back to 2014 in his official roles with the government, but Paul threatened 鈥渞epercussions鈥� over Fauci鈥檚 refusal to answer questions and said the committee will vote next week on contempt charges.

鈥淵ou argue that you did not personally issue every lockdown order, close schools or impose every mandate, but officials across the country invoked your authority to justify these decisions,鈥� said Paul, who described Fauci as more concerned about his celebrity status than scientific evidence. 鈥淐hildren lost years of education.鈥�

The hearing followed Paul鈥檚 recent release of Fauci kept during the height of the COVID crisis. The entries reveal his conflict with President Donald Trump over keeping schools open and his sense of pride that officials, like former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and California Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 chief of staff, followed his guidance on closing schools. On June 29, 2020, for example, he noted with former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, about allowing in-person learning to resume that fall. 鈥淪ince this is the first decision among governors regarding opening for the fall term, he feels that he will be the example,鈥� Fauci wrote. 鈥淚 recommended that he delay decision for two weeks.鈥�

Democrats praised Fauci for his decades of service under both Republican and Democratic presidents and characterized the hearing as a personal vendetta by Paul. , the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the hearing was a distraction from some of the current public health issues facing the public, including a rise in measles cases. With staff cuts, he added, 鈥渢he administration has hollowed out the public health workforce.鈥� 

Republicans, he said, are just 鈥渞elitigating the past.鈥�

Much of the questioning focused on whether Fauci misled the public about the source of the virus, saying that it originated in a Chinese market, while he wrote to himself that the market was only an 鈥渁mplifier.鈥� Since 2021, Paul has accused Fauci of lying about the National Institutes of Health funding the type of lab research in China that created COVID. 

鈥淢any people would say, 鈥榃ell gosh, that doesn’t sound like a really good idea, to create viruses that don’t exist in nature to see if they’ll infect human cells,鈥� 鈥� Paul said. 鈥淭he American people deserve an apology.鈥�

鈥楽lower in learning鈥�

The nation鈥檚 schools shut down in mid-March 2020 as states responded to calls from Trump, under Fauci鈥檚 advice, to 鈥渟low the spread鈥� of the disease. But what most assumed would be short-term measures turned into more than a year of on-again, off-again closures and intense battles over mask and vaccine mandates. By October of 2020, education researchers began to estimate that students had lost more than a year of learning in reading and math.

Those predictions held up. Data from the most recent shows that overall, students still haven鈥檛 reached pre-pandemic levels in reading and math. 

Children are 鈥渟lower in learning language now because they couldn’t watch someone’s lips moving,鈥� said Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican.

He also pressed Fauci on a May 6, 2020 conversation he had with Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over the fact that 1 million children had missed their measles vaccinations because of the shutdown. 

鈥淭his is terrible and needs to be addressed since on that basis alone, there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children,鈥� Fauci wrote. 

But Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, blamed the current administration for the rise in measles cases. So far this year, there have been over 2,300 reported measles cases, .

鈥淐hildren are dying because there has been increased vaccine hesitancy fueled by Robert F. Kennedy,鈥� Hassan said about the Health and Human Services secretary.

During the hearing, Trump took credit for the rapid development of the COVID vaccine. But he said he relied less on Fauci鈥檚 advice over time. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 let him shut the country down, although he wanted to,鈥� Trump wrote. 鈥淚 went the Federalist way, and let the governors decide.鈥�

The public, however, thought the president didn鈥檛 respond quickly enough to the outbreak. In an April 2020 , 65% of Americans said Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the threat.

Some experts say what schools needed at the time was strong federal guidance on reopening. 

鈥淚t’s one thing to close for a couple weeks, which is what we all thought was going to happen,鈥� said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which launched one of the of schools鈥� responses to the virus. 鈥淎 couple weeks turned into months and years in some cases. That’s where the real cost to kids came in.鈥�

She declined to say Fauci is to blame for the prolonged damage to students鈥� learning and mental health. But she said neither the Trump nor the Biden administrations protected schools from the political storm over reopening and COVID protocols.

鈥淓verybody involved bears responsibility,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o many things went wrong.鈥� 

And Weingarten largely complied, saying it 鈥渕ade sense to consult with the CDC鈥� as the pandemic progressed in 2021.

But in testimony on Wednesday before the House , Weingarten pushed back forcefully against GOP claims that the union exerted 鈥渋nappropriate influence鈥� over the guidance or worked behind the scenes to keep U.S. public schools closed for longer than necessary.

She said any allegations of undue influence over prolonged closures are inaccurate, noting that the CDC approved just 鈥渙ne particular edit鈥� to a policy about accommodations for immunocompromised teachers.

Weingarten also noted that neither the CDC nor teachers unions had the authority to open or close schools, despite the AFT鈥檚 aggressive moves to ensure members鈥� workplaces were safe. In one instance in 2020, the union threatened 鈥溾�� if school reopening plans didn鈥檛 meet their health and safety standards.

The subcommittee鈥檚 Republican chairman, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, last month previewed Wednesday鈥檚 hearing, alleging in a March 28 that the CDC let the AFT edit its operational strategy for reopening schools prior to its February 2021 release. The guidance, Wenstrup said, advised keeping schools closed in more than 90 percent of U.S. counties, 鈥渃ontrary to the prevailing science.鈥�

He said the AFT and Weingarten got 鈥渦ncommon鈥� access to the draft plan, even making line-by-line additions that 鈥渃oincidently shifted the CDC鈥檚 guidance to align with AFT鈥檚 agenda 鈥� keeping schools closed.鈥�

The issue of closures remains contentious more than three years after the pandemic shuttered virtually every public school in America. Researchers are quantifying their human cost in lost learning time, lower school attendance, worsening mental health, deteriorating school behavior and lower childhood vaccination rates, among other indicators.

have shown that widespread reliance on remote and hybrid schooling during the pandemic had 鈥減rofound consequences鈥� for achievement, with students, especially those in high-poverty areas, losing more ground in math the longer they learned remotely. Learning gaps in math didn鈥檛 worsen in places where schools remained in-person.

During the hearing, Weingarten said it was appropriate for public health authorities to consult with education groups 鈥� she said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky noted that the agency conferred with more than 50 organizations about the guidance.

鈥淚t was not only appropriate for the CDC to confer with educators. It would have been irresponsible for them not to,鈥� Weingarten said.

She told committee members that it was the Biden administration鈥檚 idea to approach the AFT about the guidance, not the other way around. But she denied that the AFT provided, in Wenstrup鈥檚 words, 鈥渟uggested revisions to the CDC’s operational strategy regarding school closures or reopenings.鈥�

鈥淲hat we suggested, sir, was ideas,鈥� she said. 

But Republicans on the committee, trying to make the case that the politically powerful union shouldn鈥檛 have a hand in U.S. health policy, pushed to tie Weingarten as closely as possible to the Biden administration. At one point, Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona told her, 鈥淚’m a member of Congress that sits on two committees that deal with the CDC. I don’t have a direct number to Director Walensky. Do you?鈥�

Weingarten admitted she did.

鈥淲ell, hopefully she’ll give it to me too,鈥� Lesko said. 

The hearing was delayed for nearly half an hour as House lawmakers approved legislation to raise the U.S.’s debt ceiling while cutting federal spending, including President Biden鈥檚 proposal to forgive student debt.

While Weingarten was Wednesday鈥檚 only witness, the subcommittee has also requested documents from other education groups about advice they gave to the CDC. They include the the and the , among others.

Midway through the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, told Wenstrup, 鈥淚’ve been to some weird hearings in this Congress, Mr. Chairman, but this one might be the weirdest, because it’s convened in order to accuse a federal agency of the crime of consorting with American citizens.鈥�

The AFT expected a contentious hearing: In preparation, it hired veteran Washington, D.C., attorney Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector general, who has already complained of 鈥渟capegoating built on false allegations that appear to be the basis for this Subcommittee鈥檚 鈥榠nvestigation.鈥� 鈥�

For the hearing, the AFT also released a lengthy letter from Bromwich, who last week told Wenstrup and ranking member Rep. Raul Ruiz of California that the union鈥檚 role in CDC school closure policies 鈥渉as been exaggerated and falsified to support pre-conceived conclusions鈥� about closure strategy.

Actually, he said, the AFT鈥檚 role was 鈥渆xtremely limited,鈥� amounting to a few sentences in a 38-page document. He noted that the union鈥檚 February 2021 proposal of a 鈥渢rigger鈥� threshold of positive COVID cases that would signal schools to close was actually rejected by the CDC.

Asked during the hearing if she had any regrets about the AFT鈥檚 work during the pandemic, Weingarten said, 鈥淚 regret the fear that was there. And part of the reason we wanted clear information was because we had a role in terms of overcoming fear.鈥�

She noted that proper ventilation and testing, for instance, turned out to be more important than social distancing. 鈥淭here were things that we really didn’t get right.鈥� 

While Republicans sharply criticized the union鈥檚 role in often-disastrous closures, one line of questioning, from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, drew a sharp rebuke from Democrats. Greene asked Weingarten, a lesbian, 鈥淎re you a mother?鈥�

Weingarten replied, 鈥淚 am a mother by marriage.鈥� In 2018, she , who came to the relationship with two daughters.

Greene said she questioned Weingarten鈥檚 recommendations to the CDC 鈥渁s not a medical doctor, not a biological mother, and really not a teacher either.鈥� She later added, 鈥淟et me tell you: I am a mother, and all three of my children were directly affected by the school closures, by your recommendations, which is something that you really can’t understand.鈥�

Democrats on the committee asked that Greene鈥檚 comments be stricken from the record 鈥� a request Wenstrup denied.

International that schools weren鈥檛 associated with accelerating community transmission of the disease during the pandemic. While infections affected schools, researchers found, most of the outbreaks were small, with fewer than 10 cases. And they couldn鈥檛 be definitively linked to in-school transmission.

Yet evidence from other nations suggests that the U.S. took a much more cautious approach to reopening. Andreas Schleicher of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in November 2020 that while schools in Europe were initially closed, “Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school.”

Prolonged U.S. public school closures have long been a sore spot for educators and public health officials, who now admit that policies keeping students out of school for months could have been rethought.

In an with The New York Times, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the recently retired head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, 鈥淚 certainly think things could have been done differently 鈥� and better 鈥� Anybody who thinks that what we or anybody else did was perfect is not looking at reality.鈥�

The has been probing several school-related aspects of the pandemic. Last month, its into closures testimony from University of California-San Francisco epidemiologist , who said scientists had evidence before the epidemic that wearing masks was 鈥渓argely ineffective鈥� at preventing the spread of flu and similar viruses 鈥� and that CDC recommendations on distancing six feet apart were 鈥渁rbitrary鈥� and not based on science.