Anthony Fauci, who has been the public face of the federal response to the Covid crisis, said that he plans to retire by the end of President Joe Biden’s current term, which is in 2025.
Fauci, 81, has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, and is also the chief medical adviser to the president.
In an interview with Politico, Fauci said that his plans are not tied to seeing Covid eradicated. Actually, he said, “We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we’re going to be living with this.”
Later, Fauci told CNN that it was not an official retirement announcement, but that he told Politico “that it is extremely unlikely that, in fact assured, that I am not going to be here beyond January 2025. So some time between now and January 2025 … you can guarantee that I will step down.”
He said that “we have a good system in place. Obviously you can’t go on forever. I do want to do other things in my career, even though I am at a rather advanced age.” He said that he doesn’t “see myself being in this job to the point where I can’t do anything else after that.” He said that Republican attacks on him has “no influence on me.”