Q&A on Financial Disclosures by Government Scientists

In this story, we’ll explain what we know about the financial and conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for Dr. Anthony Fauci, other National Institutes of Health higher-ups and members of two U.S. vaccine advisory committees.

The topic came up during a Senate hearing in June, when Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky questioned Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about royalties paid to NIH and NIH inventors from third parties who have licensed NIH patents or inventions.

What do NIH officials have to disclose?

The NIH is one of several agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the NIH itself is made up of 27 institutes and centers that conduct medical research, including the NIAID, which Fauci has directed since 1984.

Each year, Fauci and other high-ranking NIH officials are among the many federal employees required to submit a public financial disclosure report (OGE Form 278e) to their employing agency or department. Less senior officials who do not meet the pay or classification requirements for public disclosure submit a confidential report. 

In 2020, the Office of Government Ethics, which oversees the financial disclosure program for employees of the executive branch, reported that nearly 27,000 people were required to submit the public report disclosing information about the assets, income and other personal financial interests of the filer, the filer’s spouse and any dependent children.

The Congressional Research Service that the reports filed by “the most senior officials in the executive