Christine Grady, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s wife who once advocated for firing unvaccinated nurses, has now found herself on the receiving end of termination as RFK Jr. implements sweeping changes across the National Institutes of Health.
Quick Takes
- Christine Grady, bioethicist and wife of Dr. Anthony Fauci, was dismissed from her NIH position as part of RFK Jr.’s broader agency restructuring
- An NIH official cited Grady as having a “major conflict of interest” due to her marriage to Fauci, which had restricted her duties
- Grady previously supported firing nurses who refused the pandemic vaccination but declined reassignment to regional offices when offered
- The Fauci-Grady household’s net worth reportedly increased by over $7 million during the pandemic, raising ethical questions
- The layoffs affected at least 10,000 people as part of RFK Jr.’s shift away from pandemic preparedness toward other health priorities
Accountability Comes to NIH Under RFK Jr.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has initiated a major overhaul at the National Institutes of Health, with Christine Grady’s dismissal representing just one part of a broader restructuring. The bioethicist, who is married to former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, was among thousands affected by the workforce reduction. According to reports, Grady was offered an alternative position at regional offices of the Indian Health Service but declined the reassignment, effectively ending her tenure at the agency where ethical questions about her role had persisted for years.
Report: Anthony Fauci’s Wife Among NIH Employees Fired Under RFK Jr.’s Restructuring https://t.co/j4UjkGYPAD
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) April 3, 2025
The staffing changes reflect RFK Jr.’s commitment to shift priorities within the health agency. While some observers view the restructuring as necessary accountability for past pandemic policies, others have questioned the scope and speed of the changes. The dismissal of Grady in particular has drawn attention given her previous public statements supporting vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and her close connection to the controversial former chief medical advisor to President Trump, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest that may have influenced policy decisions during the pandemic.
Conflicts of Interest Come to Light
Insiders at the NIH have pointed to Grady’s marriage to Fauci as problematic for her role in bioethics oversight. One NIH official characterized Grady as “a good person with a major conflict of interest.” This assessment highlights the inherent complications of having the spouse of a major decision-maker in a position to provide ethical guidance on policies her husband helped implement. The same official noted that Grady was already restricted in certain duties because of these concerns, raising questions about why such limitations weren’t more transparent to the public during the pandemic response.
“One of the problems when the coverup was going on of the Wuhan lab leak, that whole fiasco, was that they were not listening to anyone giving ethics advice. If they had had someone at the table with knowledge of this, they would have said: ‘Hey, do you want to play it this way, or be more transparent?’ Someone could have raised the question,” said the anonymous official.
Further compounding these ethical concerns is the reported financial gain experienced by the Fauci-Grady household during the pandemic. Their net worth reportedly increased by more than $7 million since 2019, culminating in a total exceeding $11 million. While this financial growth occurred during a time when many Americans suffered economic hardship, the couple maintained significant influence over national health policy and ethical guidance, creating at minimum the appearance of impropriety that the current administration is addressing.
Irony in Dismissal After Vaccine Stance
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Grady’s dismissal is the contrast with her previous statements regarding healthcare workers who refused the pandemic vaccination. In a resurfaced video that gained attention following her termination, Grady firmly supported the removal of nurses who declined the vaccine. This stance has led many conservatives to note the irony in her current situation, as she herself now faces employment consequences for positions taken during the pandemic era.
“In the end, if people decide not to get vaccinated, that is their choice, even if they are a nurse – they may not be able to work in the facility that they’ve been working in, but they’ve made a choice,” Christine Grady stated before her dismissal from the NIH.
The broader restructuring at NIH signals President Trump’s administration’s commitment to addressing what many conservatives view as overreach during the pandemic response. With at least 10,000 positions affected, including high-profile leaders like Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo who headed Fauci’s former department, the changes represent a comprehensive shift in approach to public health governance. By removing those associated with previous controversial policies, RFK Jr. appears determined to rebuild public trust in institutions that many Americans came to view with skepticism during the pandemic.
