National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Kent Nishimura is a photographer for the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times.
On Christmas Eve, Dr. Anthony Fauci was 81 years old. He is not retiring just yet. Fauci would get the largest federal retirement package in U.S. history if he did.
Dr. Fauci's annual retirement would be more than $350,000 according to our auditors. His pension and benefits would increase through cost-of-living adjustments. Fauci has been with the federal government for 55 years.
Fauci was the most compensated federal employee for the second year in a row and out earned the president, four star generals, and 4.3 million of his colleagues. Fauci earned $434,312 in 2020, the most recent year available, up from $417,608 in 2019.
Fauci is the medical advisor to the president. Fauci received a permanent pay adjustment for his biodefense work in 2004, which resulted in his big salary boost. Fauci was appointed to the Ready Reserve Corps in January 2000.
$340,000-$350,000 a year in federal retirement payments.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management states that federal employees with a long service can retire to earn 80 percent of their high 3 average salary, plus credit for sick leave.
We filed a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to find out what Dr. Fauci's current salary, job description, royalties, conflict of interest and financial disclosures are. The judge ordered production to start on February 1, 2022.
We can only use the last three published years of his salary to calculate his potential retirement earnings.
Dr. Fauci's salary as a federal employee was over a million dollars.
If he left federal service at the end of FY2020, he would get a federal pension of $333,745 a year, plus cost-of-living increases.
Fauci's FY2021 and FY2022 salaries are likely to be higher than his 2020 salary. His retirement pay would be closer to $347,500 a year.
We requested both Dr. Fauci's FY2021 and FY2022 salaries. If the NIH responds to our comment, we will update the column.
Dr. Fauci is eligible for an annuity from the federal government. Federal employees who have served 10 years are eligible for 2 percent of their high 3 average salary each year. If he retired last year, he could have drawn down at least an extra $8,344 a year. If he leaves at the end of this month, that figure is likely closer to $8,575 a year in annuity payments, assuming his salary didn't go down in 2021.
There is a potential twist to Fauci's long-serving role, as federal benefit calculations are lucrative for someone in the role.
Dr. Fauci was appointed to the Ready Reserve Corps in 2000. There are different retirement calculations for Corps officers in the U.S. Code. If Fauci is a federal employee and has long service and service credits, he may be able to retire under this system.
The Reserve Corps was folded into the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. The reserve officers are subject to intermittent deployment to bolster the available workforce for public health emergency missions.
But...Fauci has no plans to stop working.
Jonathan Karl asked Dr. Fauci why he should retire.
I will not leave until we get this under control. That is the purpose of what we do. That is our mission in life. I am not going to walk away from it.
We are in a war, Jon. We are halfway through World War II, and you decide, well, I think I have had enough of this. I am walking away.
You can not do that. We are going to finish this and get back to normal.
That is what he told reporters last month.
He told CBS that his institute played a major role in the development of the vaccines that have saved millions of lives. The director of the institute has been very important in the basic research in leading to the drugs that will now have an impact in the treatment of COVID-19. That is what I do.
I will keep doing that until the COVID-19 outbreak is over, regardless of what anyone says about me, or what they want to lie about.
Why is the biggest federal salary for them all?
In December 2004, Dr. Fauci was approved for a permanent pay adjustment in excess of his regular salary to compensate him for the level of responsibility.
Fauci's pay increased from $200,000 to $335,000 a year. The award was carried forward through 2020.
Dr. Fauci is one of the longest-serving federal employees. The "Yellow Berets" program, which Dr. Fauci was a part of, began in 1966. He left for a year and a half to work at the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center. He was the Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation. Fauci was named director of the NIAID in 1984.
There are more Fauci records to come.
On January 27 and again on May 17 we asked for Dr. Fauci's financial and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms, job descriptions, royalty payments, and all employment contracts.
Federal law requires Dr. Fauci to file these forms with his employer. We filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit after theNIH failed to produce most of the requested documents.
The details of Dr. Fauci's employment are of the public interest after almost two years of government decisions influenced by him.
Fauci's legacy.
Dr. Fauci's salary is the highest in the government, but it wouldn't deter him from staying in federal service for 55 years.
Further reading:
The highest paid employee in the entire U.S. federal government is Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Forbes reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci received a big pay increase to prevent Pandemics.
Forbes reported on Dr. Anthony Fauci's 400+ media events that cost taxpayers.
There are lawsuits against OpenTheBooks.com for Fauci Financial Disclosure Records and Royalties paid toNIH Employees.
OPM.gov has information on retirement services.
There is a fact sheet about the Ready Reserve Corps.
Corps officers retirement pay calculations are done by the Ready Reserve Corps.
The salary history of Dr. Anthony Fauci can be found at OpenTheBooks.com.
