A recent survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania shows that public confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci, a prominent figure in U.S. public health, dropped between April and August 2026. The decline came after Fauci refused to answer questions from the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee on July 29, 2026, citing his Fifth Amendment rights, which protect individuals from self-incrimination. The committee later voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not cooperating. Dr. Fauci, who previously led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was a central voice during the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the survey, 50% of U.S. adults in August 2026 expressed high or somewhat high confidence in Fauci, a 5-point drop from 55% in April 2026. This decline follows a period of relative stability between February 2025 and April 2026, where confidence ranged between 54% and 58%. In comparison, confidence in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was serving as the secretary of health and human services at the time, remained steady at 38% in August 2026, the same as in April 2026 and February 2025. This means that Fauci’s confidence level was still 12 percentage points higher than Kennedy’s, though the gap had narrowed from 18 points in April 2026. Looking back, data from 2021 showed even higher confidence in Fauci, ranging from 71% to 63%, as he provided guidance during the early stages of the pandemic. By October 2023, confidence had settled at 60%. The survey also noted that while trust in individual healthcare providers remains strong—87% of respondents expressed confidence in their doctors or nurses—trust in major U.S. health agencies has declined. Confidence in the CDC, FDA, and NIH dropped notably since September 2024, with only 61%, 59%, and 61% of respondents expressing confidence in these institutions, respectively, as of August 2026. The August 2026 survey, conducted between August 4 and 17, included 1,904 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points. The April 2026 survey, conducted between April 14 and 28, included 1,639 U.S. adults with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points.