WASHINGTON — The United States is experiencing its most severe measles outbreak in 35 years, yet Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee directed their sharpest criticism not at the public health crisis, but at Dr. Anthony Fauci over the nation's COVID-19 response during a heated hearing Wednesday.

The outbreak comes as measles — declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, meaning the disease was no longer circulating domestically — has resurged amid declining childhood vaccination rates in several communities. Measles is among the most contagious infectious diseases known; the virus can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) accused Fauci of deceiving the American public during the pandemic. "You lied to hundreds of millions of people amid the worst public health crisis in a century," Scott said. "You forced people to watch their loved ones die alone over the phone."

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) escalated the confrontation. "Who the f--- do you think you were for doing that?" Moreno asked. "It is a total disgrace what you did to this country."

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also attacked Fauci's character. "You were so focused on getting every award and every drop of cash that you could," Hawley said. "All because you wanted to be on TV, you wanted to be the sun god of science."

Democrats view the Republican rhetoric as actively harmful, arguing it gradually erodes public trust in vaccines and medical professionals.

"There's an undermining of science," Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) told Raw Story. "It's sowing distrust in public servants and scientists and researchers and medical professionals."

Committee Chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has threatened to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times, dismissed concerns that Republican rhetoric might fuel vaccine hesitancy. Paul, a Duke-trained ophthalmologist, insisted that Fauci himself bears responsibility.

"Do you worry at all that bringing up all the COVID vaccine [criticisms] that it could increase skepticism in the measles vaccine and others?" Raw Story asked.

"No," Paul said after the hearing. "I think, really, a lot of the hesitancy on getting vaccinated is when people are told something that's dishonest."

Paul argued that public health recommendations for young children undermined overall vaccine confidence. "If they tell you your six-month-old needs to get a COVID vaccine, and yet you've seen all the evidence that healthy six-month-olds don't die from COVID and then you've seen evidence that some young people that are healthy get a heart inflammation, myocarditis," Paul continued, "You're thinking, 'well, gosh, if they're telling me that my six-month-old needs it, maybe they're lying to me about the other vaccine.'"

Fauci served under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Paul placed blame for the current measles outbreak entirely on those he described as being on the left.

"So I think they have caused the vaccine hesitancy through dishonesty," Paul told Raw Story. "I'm out there saying that the COVID vaccine should be given to those who are at risk, and that's really kind of where it's shifted now."

The United States has not seen a measles outbreak of this magnitude since 1991, but several Senate Republicans appeared unconcerned when questioned by Raw Story.

"I don't know anything about measles," Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told Raw Story.

When asked whether the rhetoric might influence constituents' decisions about the measles vaccine, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) responded, "I hadn't really thought about it like that."

Scott, representing Florida, offered a striking recollection when asked what he tells constituents who call about the measles vaccine. Scott, born in 1952, would have been a child before the first measles vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1963.

"No one does," Scott said. "There wasn't a vaccine when I was growing up. We intentionally got measles. If one person in the neighborhood got measles, we all got measles intentionally. The same with mumps and chickenpox. So I had all that stuff as a kid."

However, Scott stopped short of promoting so-called measles parties or natural herd immunity.

"Are you worried about how many people are afraid of those vaccines?" Raw Story pressed.

"Oh, yeah," Scott replied. "But the other side of it, I think the positive is, if you like, if you talk to [Health and Human Services Secretary] Bobby Kennedy. You know, he's not anti-vaccine. He's giving you good information."

Many medical experts disagree with that assessment of Kennedy's record on vaccines. Kennedy, confirmed as HHS Secretary in 2025, has for years promoted the debunked claim linking childhood vaccines to autism and has cast doubt on vaccine safety across multiple platforms.

Other Republicans acknowledged that they avoid providing vaccine information to constituents altogether.

"If people call your office now and ask you about it, do you send them to a certain website?" Raw Story asked Ernst. "Or do you just listen to them?"

"Just listen. A lot of people are skeptical from a lot of different avenues. Everyone has to make the decisions that are right for their own family," Ernst said. "I believe in vaccinations, especially something that has been proven over time — like the measles [vaccine] — but that's me. It's my personal preference. Every family, like I said, has to make their own decision."

When asked whether the government has a role in combating vaccine skepticism, Ernst urged caution.

"We have to tread very carefully in that arena when telling individuals what they should and shouldn't do," Ernst said.

"And that's because of Fauci?" Raw Story asked.

"Yeah," Ernst replied. "So we're in a really difficult time right now. And our citizens will have to figure out a way to — actually, let's put the impetus on the federal government: We're going to have to earn the people's trust."