Rand Paul Will Continue His COVID-19 Investigations From Atop the Senate Homeland Security Committee

In a letter to his colleagues, Paul says the committee's "mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself."

When Republicans officially take control of the U.S. Senate in January, a longtime critic of the national security state and the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will helm a committee with the power to investigate both.

As the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) says he aims to do exactly that.

"I intend to restore our Committee's rightful place as the oversight body of the Senate," Paul wrote in a letter sent to his Senate colleagues on Thursday, shared with Reason.

Paul, who has been the top Republican on the committee for the past two years, said he would continue the committee's investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Secret Service's security failures surrounding the assassination attempts against Donald Trump. He also promised "new investigations into executive branch failures and abuses, as well as conducting oversight of every dollar spent by the government."

Paul says that the committee's first tasks under his leadership will be confirming South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, as the incoming Secretary of Homeland Security and examining the possible reinstatement of the "Remain in Mexico" policy—an immigration rule implemented during the first Trump administration that required asylum-seekers to remain outside the country to await hearings in immigration courts. The Biden administration scrapped that rule after a lengthy legal battle.

But it seems likely that Paul will keep the committee's attention largely focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and the role that the federal government played in funding gain-of-function research at the lab in Wuhan, China, where the disease is believed to have originated. That's been a priority for Paul in recent years, and investigatory work led by his office helped to confirm the "lab leak" theory that public health authorities had initially dismissed.

In comments to the New York Post this week, Paul said the combination of his chairmanship on the committee and an incoming Republican administration would help secure more answers.

"I think we're on the cusp of, really, the beginning of uncovering what happened with COVID," Paul told the Post. 

Paul has also made a name for himself in the Senate as an advocate for cutting government spending and for reigning in the excessive spy powers enjoyed by America's intelligence community.

In the letter to his colleagues, Paul stressed both the need for fiscal restraint and for casting a critical eye on the immense powers of the federal government.

"I am gravely concerned about the fiscal health of our nation and the growing federal debt," he wrote. "Adding to that debt is irresponsible. We cannot continue to say yes to every new program and new spending proposal and expect to escape the consequences. We must also ensure every dollar the government spends is being spent properly and wisely."

In the letter, he told colleagues that the committee's investigatory powers would be available to support any senator's request for oversight of the new administration, whether coming from Democrats or Republicans.

There's no doubt that Paul will continue his important work into the origins of the pandemic, but living up to the promises made in Thursday's letter will require that Paul casts a critical eye on the incoming Trump administration too. We'll get an early indication of how seriously he takes the new oversight role at Noem's confirmation hearing, where Paul and other Republican senators should press her on everything from abolishing the Transportation Security Administration to President-elect Donald Trump's promise to pardon Ross Ulbricht.

There may be few glimmers of hope for libertarians with the incoming Republican administrating enjoying full control of Congress too. Paul's spot atop this committee could be one.

"This Committee's mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself," Paul wrote. "For the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role."