Anthony Fauci’s wife Christine Grady has been terminated from her position at the National Institutes of Health, highlighting a significant shift in leadership priorities under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Quick Takes
- Christine Grady, a bioethicist and wife of Dr. Anthony Fauci, was removed from her NIH position as part of RFK Jr.’s organizational restructuring
- An NIH official cited Grady as having a “major conflict of interest” due to her marriage to Fauci
- Grady previously supported firing healthcare workers who refused COVID-19 vaccination, but now finds herself dismissed
- The Fauci-Grady household’s net worth reportedly increased by over $7 million during the pandemic
- The restructuring affected at least 10,000 employees, including the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Major NIH Restructuring Underway
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has initiated sweeping changes at the National Institutes of Health, with Christine Grady’s dismissal representing just one aspect of a broader organizational transformation. Grady, who served as a bioethicist at the NIH and is married to former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, was among thousands of employees affected by the restructuring. According to reports, Grady declined an offered reassignment to regional offices of the Indian Health Service, effectively ending her tenure at the health agency.
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 dismissal comes amid a significant shift in priorities at HHS under Kennedy’s leadership. While previous administrations had emphasized pandemic preparedness, the current restructuring appears to signal different health priorities and administrative approaches. The layoffs reportedly affected at least 10,000 people throughout the department, including Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who had replaced Fauci as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Conflict of Interest Concerns
An NIH official speaking on condition of anonymity described Grady as “a good person with a major conflict of interest.” This assessment highlights the ethical complications that arose from having a senior bioethicist married to one of the agency’s most prominent figures. The same official noted that Grady’s effectiveness had been compromised, stating that she was essentially “hamstrung” in performing her duties because of her marital connection to Fauci.
“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,” the anonymous official stated.
Reports indicate that the Fauci household’s finances have seen substantial growth during the pandemic period. Their combined net worth reportedly increased by more than $7 million since the start of the pandemic outbreak, bringing their total wealth to over $11 million. While no specific allegations of impropriety have been formally raised, these financial details have intensified scrutiny around potential conflicts of interest.
Past Statements Return to Spotlight
Grady’s dismissal has drawn particular attention due to her previous public statements regarding healthcare workers who declined vaccination. A resurfaced video shows Grady advocating for the dismissal of unvaccinated nurses, a position that now stands in stark contrast to her own employment situation. The apparent irony has not been lost on observers of the situation.
“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,” Grady previously stated.
Kennedy’s restructuring of HHS signals a significant departure from previous administrations’ approaches to public health management. While some see the changes as necessary corrections to perceived institutional problems, others have expressed concern about potential disruptions to ongoing health initiatives. Neither Fauci nor Grady has issued any public statements regarding her dismissal, and the NIH has not provided specific details about how the restructuring will affect its operations moving forward.
