Dr. Anthony Fauci confessed to lawmakers Tuesday that guidelines to keep six feet of separation ostensibly to limit the spread of COVID-19 " "sort of just appeared" without scientific input. Fauci, 83, revealed to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that the "six feet apart" recommendation championed by him and other US public health officials was "likely not based on scientific data." Schools nationwide remained closed well into the second year of the pandemic as a result of the social distancing guidelines, which were disputed by both research studies and other health officials. Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who sits on the panel, said Tuesday night that Fauci had shown an "amazing ability to either forget what happened or then to find ways to shirk any sort of responsibility for the influence that was had," during the two-day affair. "They wash their hands of any sort of responsibility, saying, 'Oh, those decisions were made by school districts.' But the school districts know, if you don't follow the guidance that's coming out of the federal government, you open yourselves up to lawsuits," Cloud said of Fauci and other US pandemic response officials. "He says he's still not convinced that there was learning loss " that in his view, that's still really open for discussion," Cloud [said]. "I think [if] you ask any parent, they'll tell you it was a major hit on their child's development."