Dr. Anthony Fauci Has Been Surprisingly Busy Since Retiring in 2022
Dr. Anthony Fauci was pardoned by outgoing President Joe Biden before Biden left office.
Published Jan. 27 2025, 4:40 p.m. ET

The U.S. government's actions and the collective response from a swath of public health agencies at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted Dr. Anthony Fauci's name into the public zeitgeist.
Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, also served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden for two years before his retirement in 2022.
Dr. Fauci was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by TIME in 2020, retired from the NIH in December 2022 after more than 50 years of service in different capacities, and per the Associated Press, he stepped down at the same time from his role as Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden.
In January 2025, coinciding with the conclusion of President Biden's presidential term, Dr. Fauci's name reentered the news cycle, leading many to wonder what he has been up to since 2022. Keep reading to learn what we know.
What is Anthony Fauci doing now?
In 2023, Dr. Fauci joined the faculty of Georgetown University as a Distinguished University Professor. As of publication, he still serves as a professor for Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy as well as the university's School of Medicine.
And in June 2024, Dr. Fauci published an autobiography titled On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service, which was a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller.
Dr. Fauci revealed in a June 2024 interview with CBS News that he was pitched millions of dollars by corporations in the private sector to leave government work. The interview, with CBS News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook, indicated that corporations that recruited Dr. Fauci included those spanning the pharmaceutical industry and in private equity, per Dr. Fauci.
"I was making $125,000, $200,000. Then I would get offered a job that would get me $5 million, $6 million, $7 million a year," Dr. Fauci said in the interview. He didn't pursue those lucrative opportunities, he said, because his work with the U.S. government was much more aligned with his mission to influence public health at the U.S. and global levels.
In August 2024, it was reported that Dr. Fauci was hospitalized due to being infected with the West Nile virus, per NPR.
All of that said, Dr. Fauci's name was once again thrust into the national news cycle at the end of President Biden's tenure helming the U.S. government. If you are wondering why President Biden and Dr. Fauci remained connected three years after the latter's retirement, keep reading.

What did Biden pardon Fauci for?
According to an official document on the U.S. Department of Justice website, President Biden presented Dr. Fauci with an Executive Grant of Clemency, more commonly known as a presidential pardon, on Jan. 20, 2025, which was his last day as president.
According to NBC News, the pardon was issued with mere hours remaining before Biden officially left office, as a means to "preemptively protect" individuals — including Dr. Fauci — whom President Trump "had threatened," per NBC News.
As the document reads, Dr. Fauci was pardoned "For any offenses against the United States which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon arising from or in any manner related to his service as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House COVID-19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President."
Per NBC News, Dr. Fauci said that he was threatened with the prospect of prosecution following the conclusion of Biden's tenure as president. In a statement following the presidential pardon, Dr. Fauci said, in part: "I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me."