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Rand Paul wants to fast-track prosecution of former Covid czar Anthony Fauci. The legal process will be fraught. After the Kentucky Republican pushed a contempt of Congress resolution through his Senate committee on party lines Thursday morning — saying Fauci had impeded his investigation of the pandemic by refusing to answer questions last week — Democrats demanded he take it to the full Senate for a vote they could filibuster. Paul said he’s going to instead take it straight to the attorney general. For Fauci, the difference is massive. (Levien and King, 8/6)

The Justice Department on Thursday afternoon confirmed that it had received the document. “We are reviewing it, and will work with the Senate accordingly,” it said in a statement. (Owermohle, Cancryn and Grayer, 8/6)

The contempt action raises a set of thorny constitutional questions: chiefly, whether Fauci can respond to congressional questioning by invoking the Fifth Amendment after receiving a pardon, legal experts say. (Stening, 8/6)

U.S. President ​Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that Dr. ‌Anthony Fauci should be prosecuted, hours after Republican Senator Rand Paul said that he would ask the Justice ​Department to do so. (8/6)

Senate Republicans on Thursday voted down an amendment that sought to open up Americans’ ability to sue pesticide companies over the health impacts of their products. The amendment to the Senate farm bill failed in a party-line vote. While the measure was backed by all of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Democrats and none of its Republicans, it’s also a blow to pesticide critics in the right-wing “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement. It’s something that MAHA-aligned GOP members of the House are also pushing for. (Frazin, 8/6)

An internal GOP fight over intoxicating hemp is dragging progress on the government funding bill. The White House’s insistence on delaying for a month a ban on hemp THC products that President Trump signed into law less than a year ago caught lawmakers by surprise and is snarling what many thought would be a perfunctory process. “The hemp issue is the outstanding issue,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. (Weixel, 8/6)

More than 60 House Democrats are pressing Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins for answers about how the agency’s mental healthcare has been increasingly strained under President Donald Trump’s second administration. The lawmakers sent the secretary a letter last week asking questions about the state of VA care, citing a ProPublica investigation from this spring that revealed the agency’s mental health workforce has been plummeting and veterans have been left in the lurch. (Umansky, 8/7)

A bipartisan bill aimed at combating hepatitis C is stalled in the Senate due to a high score from the Congressional Budget Office, the bill’s lead sponsor Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Thursday. (Cohen, 8/6)

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy joined Katie Couric on the latest episode of Next Question for a wide-ranging — and at times contentious — conversation about vaccines, public health, and his role in confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation's top health official. (Bonn, 8/6)

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office says the Kentucky Republican has been released from a rehabilitation center and will continue his recovery from home. “Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home,” the senator said in a statement released by his office. “Elaine and I are grateful for the many well wishes and support from friends, colleagues, and Kentuckians, and for the attentive care I’ve received from excellent doctors, nurses, therapists, and hospital staff.” (Herrington, 8/6)

Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan's Democratic primary for Senate raises the prospect of a rare new addition to the upper chamber: a progressive doctor — albeit one who doesn't practice medicine. (Owens, 8/6)