Debate about the origins of Covid is likely to intensify in the coming weeks, with Congress stepping into the fray following the leak of a classified Department of Energy report suggesting that the virus came from a Chinese lab instead of emerging naturally.

The GOP-controlled House announced Thursday that its select subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic will hold its first hearing on the matter on March 8. The chairman of the subcommittee, Congressman Brad Wenstrup, said in a statement that his goal is to find “real answers” for the American public.

“Government scientists and government funded researchers have so far been less-than-forthcoming in their knowledge and actions, including work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and potential pandemic pathogens,” the chairman said. “We can’t accept more years of stonewalling.”

The chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Congressman James Comer, said his panel will push for documents from the Biden administration related to funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “Evidence continues to mount pointing to the virus leaking from an unsecure lab in Wuhan,” Mr. Comer said in a statement. 

It isn’t just Republicans who are seeking answers. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that would declassify intelligence on the origins of Covid-19. The bill was originally introduced by Senators Hawley and Braun in 2021 and passed unanimously, but the issue was never taken up by the House, which was controlled by the Democrats until January. 

“For nearly three years, anyone asking whether Covid-19 originated as a lab leak outbreak was silenced and branded as a conspiracy theorist,” Mr. Hawley said in a statement. “Now these prudent skeptics stand vindicated. The Biden administration must immediately declassify all intelligence reports pertaining to the origins of Covid-19 and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

The new bill now goes before the House, where Democrats are expected to vote against the measure. Congressman Pete Aguilar, the no. 3 Democrat in the chamber, said it is not the legislative branch’s job to declassify such documents.

“We believe in letting committees of jurisdiction guide the discussions ahead, working with the administration and asking the administration tough questions,” Mr. Aguilar said at a press conference on Wednesday. 

The energy department report — first obtained by the Wall Street Journal — stated that the agency believes the leak came from a lab, but it came to the conclusion with “low” confidence. The intelligence community has yet to reach a definitive conclusion. 

The FBI is more confident in the lab leak theory, however. In an interview with Fox News, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, said his agency came to the conclusion long before the Department of Energy. “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Mr. Wray said. 

When the “lab leak theory” first emerged in 2020, it was derided as a racist “conspiracy” by some scientists and government entities. Much of the chatter had died down in recent months, but the energy department report has ramped up the speculation once again.