Staff Reports
When it comes to the federal government’s approach to animal research, it appears that wokeness has cornered the market on cruelty, and it is the American taxpayer who is footing the bill. A recent hearing by House Oversight Committee Republicans brought to light the gruesome world of federally funded animal testing, which seems to have enjoyed some bipartisan acceptance in the current political climate, much to the surprise of many.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and notorious for supercharging viruses while funding bizarre animal experiments, was a major target during the hearing. Republican members pulled no punches, laying into Fauci and pointing out that under his reign, taxpayer dollars went toward projects like subjecting beagles to unspeakable horrors and torturing monkeys with experimental surgeries. Meanwhile, the Democrat members of the panel suddenly found themselves playing nice, notably failing to leap to Fauci’s defense or push back on the criticisms of what they insist on calling gender-affirming care, which has now crept into experimenting on animals too.
🚨 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace ) Opens Hearing on the Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty
“Late last year the White Coat Waste Project exposed that more than $10 million dollars in taxpayer funds were spent creating transgender mice, rats, and monkeys.
“These DEI… pic.twitter.com/Hq9bKyYX1a
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) February 6, 2025
Ohio Representative Shontel Brown, the top Democrat on the panel, did find herself praising her Republican counterpart, Chairwoman Nancy Mace, for promoting non-animal methods of research. This delicate cordiality suggests perhaps that both parties are eyeing a world where federal spending could magically align, provided the right issues are addressed. Of course, it’s not lost on anyone that this newfound camaraderie could be overshadowed by the grotesque experiments being funded under the guise of medical research.
The figures displayed during this spectacle were eyebrow-raising, with the Biden administration diverting a jaw-dropping $2.5 million toward studying transgender mice and $1.1 million on female rats to see if they would overdose on party drugs—all while conveniently ignoring the core question of necessity. The rhetoric around the government’s willingness to surgically alter animal genitals in the name of gender ideology highlights how far the left is willing to go in their pursuit of social trends, seemingly blinded to the ethical implications.
Despite being lambasted with shocking accounts from animal rights advocates about the “savage” practices of experimentation, it is astonishing that even the numbers associated with animal testing have surged into the hundreds of millions under the guise of scientific progress. The NIH’s deep dive into funding for such harmful practices reveals a troubling commitment to outdated methods, where bureaucratic inertia seems to reign supreme. The grand irony here is that amid claims of being pioneers in medical advances, the agencies are clinging to methods that, as professionals have pointed out, show little to no correlation with improved human health outcomes.
If Congress wants to make any real progress in animal welfare—and let’s be clear, what goes on behind closed laboratory doors is nothing short of barbaric—they’ll need to get aggressive about transparency and accountability. It’s time to put the brakes on archaic animal testing and start supporting innovative research that utilizes technology over tortured animals. Until then, the laughter and banter across the aisles of Washington will continue amid the seemingly endless taxpayer-funded horror show that displeases both animal rights activists and conservative watchdogs alike.
