Paul vows to keep up COVID oversight in the 119th

What they're saying: Paul told Axios that he'll make subpoenaing NIH records around potential "gain of function" research a priority when he becomes chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

• "For about three years, I've been trying to get records from the NIH concerning the debate over whether or not the funding for the research of Wuhan should have gone before the safety committee called the P3CO committee," said Paul, referring to a federal framework for research on potential pandemic pathogens.
• "Fauci says 'Well, it's not gain-of-function, all my scientists told me it wasn't.' Well, the only way we would know that is by seeing the deliberations."
• "My goal is to ask the committee members, the Republicans to subpoena these records.… I can't promise you that's going to happen. I have to get all of them to vote."
• "I've also talked to [ranking Democrat Gary] Peters about it, he's signed several letters, there's a chance he may actually help me with the subpoena," he added.

Despite that, it's unclear whether House leadership will revive the COVID Select Subcommittee for the 119th Congress. A decision hasn't been made yet, Axios has learned.

• Speaker Mike Johnson, in a statement to Axios, said a final report on the committee's activities represented "a careful evaluation of our nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
• "The crisis exposed serious failures in leadership, and this report is a step in the right direction to rebuild trust and guarantee America is better prepared for future events," Johnson said.

State of play: Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the subcommittee chair, released the 500-page final report Monday.

• "This work will help the United States, and the world, predict the next pandemic, prepare for the next pandemic, protect ourselves from the next pandemic, and hopefully prevent the next pandemic," Wenstrup wrote in a letter to Congress.
• Notably, Wenstrup added that "Members of the 119th Congress should continue and build off this work; there is more information to find and honest actions to be taken."

The report largely praised Trump administration efforts such as Operation Warp Speed but slammed Biden administration measures like vaccine mandates.

• It also concluded that social distancing and masking measures weren't effective and that COVID-19 vaccines didn't stop spread or transmission of the virus.
• Wenstrup outlined bipartisan areas of agreement, including the possibility that COVID could have emerged because of a laboratory accident, that the research nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance should not receive taxpayer dollars, and that scientific messaging should be clear and concise.

The other side: House COVID Select Subcommittee Democrats issued their own report Tuesday that they said "debunked extreme Republican probes" with their own findings.

• Those included that Anthony Fauci didn't organize a campaign to suppress theories that COVID originated with a lab leak, and that the Trump administration's pandemic response led to the uncontrolled spread of COVID in nursing homes.

While specific action items to take in a future pandemic weren't included in the GOP's final report, there were criticisms of health agencies that could serve as the basis for potential reforms.

• The report criticized how NIH chooses to fund research projects and the agency's stewardship of public records. It also touched on how the FDA rushed approval of the COVID vaccines, and CDC's influence over public health policies.
• NIH overhaul plans from the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Sen. Bill Cassidy could also be taken up again in the 119th Congress.

What's next: The COVID Select Subcommittee will mark up the report Wednesday and then submit it to the Congressional Record.