WASHINGTON — Rand Paul has chosen to chair the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in the next Congress, asserting that the legislative body “must stand up once again for its constitutional role.”

A longtime critic of government overreach and a skeptic of certain national security measures, Paul’s chairmanship is likely to bring a distinct libertarian-leaning perspective to the committee’s work.

One of Paul’s obsessions — investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s response to it — is certain to be central to the committee’s work in the new year.

Paul said Thursday his first committee hearing would examine reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, a controversial measure by President-elect Donald Trump to require asylum seekers arriving at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed by U.S. courts.

Though Paul never formally endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign, his policy alignment on immigration control could help the Kentucky senator get back in the president-elect’s good graces.

One of the first high-profile tasks Paul will steer is the confirmation hearing for Trump’s nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

He said he would “expeditiously” move Noem’s nomination in time for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.

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