"I chose to chair this committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role," Paul told the Post in an interview Wednesday, adding, "This committee's mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself."

"I think we're on the cusp of, really, the beginning of uncovering what happened with COVID," Paul continued. He believes his new position and Trump in the White House will help promote transparency on this sensitive subject.

Paul said, "We are going to, hopefully, have a friendlier administration, and we're hoping that there will be a friendly person at [the Department of Health and Human Services], and we're hoping they'll be friendly at [the National Institutes of Health]."