The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled more than $180 million in contracts over 48 hours, including a nearly $170,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci museum exhibit.

"In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract [sic] worth $182 million," The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced in a Friday social media post. "These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses – none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum."

The news comes as DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has continued to outline vast changes in government spending over the last few weeks, including a plan to eliminate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and sweeping changes at the U.S. Treasury Department aimed at eliminating over $100 billion per year in entitlement payments to individuals with no Social Security number.

ANTHONY FAUCI MAY BE DEPOSED AS GOP INTENSIFIES COVID INVESTIGATIONS IN NEW CONGRESS

Seemingly no federal agency has been excluded from the reach of DOGE, with HHS being just the latest in a string of targets meant to eliminate waste from the federal government.

The Fauci exhibit was booked to be finished by July 2025, but has now been scrapped along with $182 million in other HHS administrative expenses.

Fauci has long been a controversial figure and has often clashed with President Donald Trump, who last month revoked the taxpayer-funded security detail for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) that was requested for him in 2020 as he became the government’s public spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"I think, you know, when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off and, you know, you can't have them forever," Trump said of the move. "We took some off other people, too, but you can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government."

Fauci was given a preemptive pardon by former President Joe Biden on his last day in office, which was meant to shield the infectious disease expert from feared retribution from Trump during his second stint in the White House, though Fauci was not charged with any crimes at the time of the pardon.

Before serving as the chief medical advisor to the president during COVID-19, Fauci served nearly 30 years as the director of the NIAID between 1984 and 2022.

He started his career at the National Institutes of Health in 1968, and was widely praised for his efforts to confront HIV/AIDs before becoming the government’s public face during the pandemic.

HHS did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he wants answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci.   

In his new position as chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security committee, Paul issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden administration aimed at building on past congressional investigations into the COVID-19 virus and risky taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. It is unclear who exactly from each agency will ultimately be deposed, but a Fauci deposition is possible. 

"In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered," Paul said in a statement after announcing the issuance of his subpoenas. "Subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again."

FORMER NASCAR STAR DANICA PATRICK SUPPORTS TRUMP REVOKING FAUCI'S SECURITY DETAIL

While former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to protect him from political retribution under the new Trump administration, legal experts have questioned the validity of such a pardon. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baily suggested to Fox News that since Biden's own Justice Department indicated he lacked the mental faculties to be held criminally liable for improper handling of classified documents, it could be argued he also lacked the mens rea to issue pardons to people like Fauci. Additionally, the pardon Fauci received only covers his actions from January 2014 to the date of his pardon. As a result, a refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could also potentially result in criminal charges.

Paul's investigation will build on a previous bipartisan probe launched by the Senate's Homeland Security committee last year looking into the national security threats posed by "high-risk biological research and technology in the U.S. and abroad." 

A second investigation being launched by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, will similarly probe concerns in the new Congress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a review of email communications from Fauci.  

MISSOURI AG SAYS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANTHONY FAUCI IS STILL ON THE TABLE 

Since the pandemic began, Paul has sent dozens of requests for information related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus and gain-of-function research. Last year, his efforts revealed documents that he said show that government officials from at least 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was working on creating a coronavirus similar to COVID-19.

The WIV has been a centerpiece in the debate over the origins of COVID-19, as it was eventually discovered that American scientist Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance was using taxpayer dollars to conduct risky research on the novel bat virus out of the WIV prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services barred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding for five years. 

Meanwhile, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Congress in May 2021 that the NIH "has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON BUT INSISTS ‘NO CRIME’ WAS COMMITTED

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to halt all U.S. funding going towards gain-of-function research. 

Federal officials remain split on where the COVID-19 virus originated from. Three agencies — the Department of Energy, the FBI and the CIA — have determined that the most likely origin narrative is the lab leak theory, but others in the intelligence community and throughout the federal government say they can either not conclude that a lab leak was the most likely scenario, or they say that a natural origin scenario is most likely. A declassified intelligence report from 2021, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, posited that if a lab leak did turn out to be the catalyst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was likely the result of an accident.

Representatives for Paul declined to comment for this report, while Fauci did not respond to a request for comment. 

President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that he has terminated the security detail provided to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the taxpayer's expense.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requested security for Fauci in 2020 to protect him from threats he received as the top health official and public spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic. But that detail was pulled on Thursday night, CNN first reported.

Trump was asked about the decision Friday while visiting Asheville, North Carolina, to tour areas impacted by Hurricane Helene.

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"I think, you know, when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off and, you know, you can't have them forever," Trump said.

"We took some off other people, too, but you can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government," he added.

HIGH-PROFILE DEMS WARNED BIDEN AGAINST PREEMPTIVE PARDONS BEFORE GIVING FAUCI, MILLEY PASSES

Trump earlier revoked the security clearances of 51 intelligence officials who had wrongly claimed that Hunter Biden's laptop had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation," as well as the details provided to former national security advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Asked if he would feel partially responsible if something were to happen to Fauci or Bolton, Trump said he would not.

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON BUT INSISTS ‘NO CRIME’ WAS COMMITTED

"No. You know, they all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security," Trump said, adding that he knows several good security firms and "can give them some good numbers." 

"Certainly I would not take responsibility," he said.

Former President Joe Biden offered a preemptive pardon to Fauci on his way out of office to shield him from Trump's retribution. Though Trump had initially followed Fauci's recommendations at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began to criticize Fauci as the government's pandemic response and recommendations proved to be unpopular.

Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and was the chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022. Trump awarded presidential commendations to Fauci and other members of Operation Warp Speed in 2021 for their work to quickly develop coronavirus vaccines. 

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

High-profile Democrats and former President Biden, himself, warned about blanket, preemptive pardons before Biden ultimately granted passes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of his family in the 11th hour of his administration.

"The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think, is a precedent we don't want to set," now-Sen. Adam Schiff warned on ABC's "This Week" in December. 

Biden ended his term in the Oval Office on Monday, when President Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. But hours before the inauguration, the White House announced pardons for both Fauci and Milley and those involved in the January 6 select committee investigation – though those individuals were not identified by name. 

And just 22 minutes before leaving office, Biden also pardoned his family, including his brother James B. Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens, and brother Francis W. Biden. The former president had previously issued a blanket pardon to his adult son, Hunter Biden, after he was convicted in two separate federal cases last year.  

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"My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end," Biden said in a statement pardoning his family. 

Speculation had mounted that Biden would issue blanket pardons and preemptive pardons to those viewed as Trump's political foes, such as former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, as well as Milley and Fauci and members of the Biden family. 

Democrats stretching from former President Bill Clinton to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., warned Biden against issuing such pardons in the waning days of his administration. 

BIDEN PARDONS MARK MILLEY, ANTHONY FAUCI, J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS

"If President Biden wanted to talk to me about that, I would talk to him about it. But I don't think I should be giving public advice on the pardon power. I think it's too – it's a very personal thing, but it is – I hope he won't do that," Clinton said of preemptive pardons on "The View."

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin also warned against such pardons in an interview on CNN last month, remarking, "when we talk about a preemptive pardon, where does it start and where does it stop?"

Klobuchar echoed that sentiment in the same month. 

"I am not a fan of these [preemptive pardons]," she said. "I didn't like the pardon of the president's son. I didn't think that that was prudent. But I also am very concerned about this idea of preemptive pardons."

Biden, too, had warned against preemptive pardons before he took office in 2020, at a time when speculation swirled that Trump would pardon his children and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. 

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"It concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks (at) us as a nation of laws and justice," Biden said in an interview with CNN in December 2020. 

Trump ultimately did not pardon his adult children or the former mayor of New York City. 

Following the 11th hour pardons for Milley, Fauci and staff of the Jan. 6 Select Committee and family, political leaders and lawmakers slammed the decision, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

"One of Biden’s greatest abuses of power was the forcing of mRNA shots by executive fiat (which Florida successfully blocked). Now, on his way out the door, Biden pardons the chief henchman of that and so many other abuses. The swamp protects its own," said DeSantis, a Republican, on Monday. 

BIDEN COMMUTES NEARLY 2,500 MORE SENTENCES IN FINAL DAYS OF PRESIDENCY

Fauci was the national spokesman for the nation's pandemic response, including advising then-President Trump in 2020 on how to handle COVID-19 as it swept across communities.

But his favor with the president waned over time, with Trump slamming him and fellow pandemic task force adviser Dr. Deborah Birx as "two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations."

FAUCI RIPPED OVER NEW PAPER CRITICIZING TRUMP ON CORONAVIRUS, PROMOTING NATURAL ORIGIN THEORY: 'EMBARRASSMENT'

Fauci said Monday he appreciates his pardon, though he stressed he has "committed no crime." 

"I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf," Fauci told ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl.

"Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me," he continued.

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON BUT INSISTS 'NO CRIME' WAS COMMITTED

Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also has a contentious relationship with Trump and his supporters. He had called Trump a "fascist" and "the most dangerous person to this country" just ahead of the November election. 

WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING?

Trump has repeatedly slammed Milley since leaving office, including after the United States' botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when he called Milley a "loser who shamed us in Afghanistan and elsewhere!"

After the election, Milley appeared to walk back his characterization of Trump as a "fascist," saying ​​America will "be OK" under Trump’s second administration.

Liz Cheney, the Republican former congresswoman from Wyoming, and Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee chair, were also targets of Trump's ire. Biden did not mention Cheney or Thompson by name in his statement, instead pardoning "staff who served on the Select Committee."

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"The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said in a White House statement. "Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country."