Today's five.

A Senate committee voted 8-5 to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt — along party lines, which is how most things happen in Senate committees these days. Fauci had appeared before the panel last week and invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times, which he framed as self-defense against a chairman trying to "trick him into lying." Rand Paul, who chairs the committee, says he'll refer the case to the Justice Department. From there, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro decides whether to pursue it. The word "pursue" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

After seven weeks of hospitalization and rehab, McConnell is home — and the Senate return is, per Axios, still unclear. He fell in June, went to rehab in July, and has not been seen in public since, outside of photos his office chose to release. He's 84, in his seventh Senate term, with that term running until January 2027. His statement thanked doctors, nurses, Kentuckians, and his wife Elaine, in that order. Axios led with the unresolved question of his capacity to serve; everyone else led with the discharge. The question Axios asked is the one nobody in his office answered.

Invoking the Fifth Amendment is a constitutional right, which hasn't stopped half the internet from treating it like a confession. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions before Congress, citing self-incrimination protections — the same ones that have shown up in nearly every high-profile congressional hearing in modern history. The Dispatch asked whether he deserves public shame. The Times ran a history lesson on how often this actually happens. Both framings are technically compatible. The Fifth exists precisely so individuals don't have to perform innocence on command — though "I'm not performing" and "I have nothing to hide" are different things.

Florida's "stand your ground" logic apparently extends to your Labrador. A dog got loose in a Lighthouse Point neighborhood Thursday morning, attacked another resident's pet, and the attacked dog's owner resolved the situation with a firearm. The dog that initiated the attack did not survive. Police are involved, which at this point is the whole story — no arrests mentioned, no charges filed, just cops confirming that yes, this is what happened. One source covered it. The details are sparse. Somewhere in Lighthouse Point, a very shaken dog owner is having a very complicated morning.

Florida's commissioner of agriculture is the kind of race that sounds boring until you realize it controls a $13 billion industry — and, with multiplier effects, something closer to $213 billion. Incumbent Wilton Simpson runs FDACS, a 12-division agency that touches nearly every piece of food, forest, and livestock in the state. He also has more than $30 million in campaign funds, which is not subtle. The office oversees everything from produce licensing to animal regulation — the bureaucratic infrastructure behind Florida's farms that most people ignore until something goes wrong with their orange juice.