BREAKING: Fauci says he’s considering retiring

During an interview with ABC podcast "Start Here", Fauci was asked if he has considered scaling back his responsibilities as the health crisis eases, to which he says that he has.

"I have said that I would stay in what I'm doing until we get out of the pandemic phase and I think we might be there already," Fauci told host Brad Mielke. "If we can stay in this, then we're at a point where I feel that we are done with this, but I don't have any plans right now to go away, but you never know."

Mielke then asked if retirement or stepping back were options for him, to which he said "I certainly have, because I have to do it some time. I can't stay at this job forever, unless my staff find me slumped over at my desk one day. I'd rather not do that," he said.

Fauci said that that he'd need to figure out what to do with his life after he steps down from being a "public health guy," but that he'd like to spend more time with his wife and family.

Fauci has a lot to look forward to in his retirement, however. According to Forbes, Fauci is likely to rake in the highest-ever government retirement package in US history, "with an annual payment exceeding $350,000."

"For the second year in a row, Fauci was the most highly compensated federal employee and out earned the president, four star generals, and roughly 4.3 million of his colleagues. As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Fauci earned $434,312 in 2020, the latest year available, up from $417,608 in 2019," Forbes wrote.

Fauci, now 81, will have those payments adjust to the cost of living, as well.

He made $434,312 in 2020, an increase of four percent from his 2019 salary.