False Claims Act Playbook

On March 26, 2026, President Trump signed a sweeping Executive Order titled “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors” (the EO) that attaches binding contractual consequences to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in federal contracting. By April 25, 2026, federal contractors, subcontractors, and lower-tier subcontractors should expect to be required to agree—as a term of their contracts—not to engage in “racially discriminatory DEI activities,” to open its books and records to government compliance audits, and to acknowledge that any violation is material to the government’s decision to pay—a critical element for False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement. In this blog, Winston lawyers analyze the new EO and weigh potential implications for contractors. 

On February 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) jointly announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago would be a lead prosecutorial partner on the recently launched interagency Trade Fraud Task Force. Originally launched on August 29, 2025, the Trade Fraud Task Force aims to aggressively pursue importers, purchasers, supply chain actors, and other entities engaged in customs fraud, including duty evasion, misclassification of goods, and smuggling of prohibited items. In this article, we evaluate DOJ’s continued commitment to designate substantial resources to its initiative to combat customs and trade fraud.

On February 19, 2026, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama dismissed a declined qui tam whistleblower suit brought against Comfort Care Hospice, LLC, and several related hospice and home health service providers based in Alabama and Tennessee, claiming improper billing practices in violation of the False Claims Act and the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act.

The annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for Fiscal Year 2025 represent the highest single-year recovery in FCA history, underscoring that the FCA remains one of the government’s most effective tools for combating frauds involving federal funds. Winston attorneys outline expectations for FCA enforcement in 2026 and beyond based on an analysis of FY 2025 FCA activity and the priorities and goals of the current administration.

Even though five years have passed since Congress enacted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as an emergency response to the COVID‑19 pandemic, enforcement activity relating to PPP loans remains an active component of the federal government’s civil fraud agenda and—with the statute of limitations not expiring for another roughly five years—all indications are that it will continue to be an enforcement priority for the foreseeable future.

In a move that would mark a significant departure from longstanding practice separating Department of Justice operations from direct White House control, the White House announced on January 8, 2026, a plan to create and directly supervise a new Department of Justice (DOJ) division for national fraud enforcement. The division would be led by a Senate-confirmed assistant attorney general (AAG). According to Vice President Vance, the new AAG will have “nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud” and will be supervised by President Trump and Vice President Vance, rather than by DOJ leadership.  

On October 15, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (the Court) dismissed Pharos Capital Group and its related investment funds (Pharos Capital) from a qui tam or whistleblower suit brought under the antiretaliation provision of the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)) (the FCA), against Pharos Capital and Charter Health Care Group (Charter), a portfolio company of Pharos Capital.

DOJ False Claims Act (FCA) settlements related to cybersecurity typically have focused on false representations by a government contractor of its compliance with cybersecurity requirements. A recently announced settlement shows that private equity owners are not immune from potential FCA liability.

With the DOJ’s new directive to pursue denaturalization in civil healthcare fraud cases, naturalized citizens in leadership roles face heightened personal risk. Robust compliance and careful review of employment practices are more important than ever for healthcare organizations.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled that it will use the False Claims Act (FCA) as a tool against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that discriminate against certain groups. 

Given the recent changes the Trump Administration has made at the Department of Justice (DOJ),many people have wondered when a formal change to the DOJ’s white-collar prosecution policies, particularly the corporate self-disclosure policy, might come. During remarks at a Financial Crimes Conference on May 12, Matthew Galeotti, the new Head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, announced some of the changes to the DOJ’s policies, starting with the new commitment to be less “heavy-handed with the stick, and [less] stingy with the carrot.”  

The annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Justice for Fiscal Year 2024, coupled with the Trump administration’s focus on the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending and apparent intentions to rely on the FCA to pursue other administration priorities, signal a likely increase in FCA investigations and actions throughout 2025 and beyond.

Subsequent to remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., 598 U.S. 739 (2023) (SuperValu) was tried to a jury. On March 5, 2025, the jury found that SuperValu was ultimately not liable in a whistleblower action that has cast a wide shadow over FCA jurisprudence in recent years.

On February 18, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued its decision in United States v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. adopting the more stringent “but for” causation standard for alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).

On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued a sweeping executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (EO). The EO targets diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI) programs in the public and the private sectors. The EO signals that organizations receiving federal funds, whether through government contracts or otherwise, may be liable under the False Claims Act (FCA)—one of the government’s most powerful anti-fraud enforcement tools providing for treble damages and steep penalties—if they maintain what the EO refers to as “illegal” DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws. Significantly, the EO includes provisions that are likely to make it easier to establish FCA violations.

Despite an earlier declination of intervention in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, Case No. 8:19-cv-01236-KKM-SPF (M.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2024), yesterday, the United States filed a notice of appeal of the Zafirov Court’s September 30, 2024 decision to dismiss the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The district court held in the underlying dismissal order that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) are unconstitutional, echoing arguments made by certain justices in a recent FCA case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The relator, Dr. Clarissa Zafirov, filed suit in 2019 against her employer, Florida Medical Associates, LLC, alleging that the physician practice group violated the FCA by misrepresenting patient medical conditions to Medicare. Like most relators, Zafirov did not assert that any of the alleged illegality harmed her personally; rather, she brought suit on behalf of the “real party of interest,” the United States of America. The government had declined to intervene, leaving Zafirov to pursue the litigation on her own over the past five years. But yesterday, the United States filed its Notice of Appeal, opening the door for further review of the constitutionality of the FCA's qui tam provisions – including by the U.S. Supreme Court should there be a circuit split.

On October 22, 2024, the Department of Justice announced a False Claims Act (FCA) settlement related to a government contractor’s failure to adhere to certain cybersecurity requirements. Specifically, Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has agreed to pay US$1.25M to resolve allegations that it violated the FCA by failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in fifteen contracts or subcontracts involving the Department of Defense (DOD) or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The DOJ announcement is available here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pennsylvania-state-university-agrees-pay-125m-resolve-false-claims-act-allegations-relating.

The Supreme Court of the United States’ recent decisions in Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. (2024) and Corner Post v. Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, 603 U.S. __ (2024), may provide federal contractors with new arguments and opportunities to challenge agency regulations in litigation and bid protests.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is the latest court to weigh in on the continuing debate surrounding the scope of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) as it applies to patient assistance programs (PAPs). In a lengthy opinion issued in January 2024, the court endorsed the broad interpretation advanced by the government, expressing little sympathy for the legal or policy arguments advanced by the plaintiffs, a coalition of pharmaceutical manufacturers. The coalition has indicated it will appeal the case to the Fourth Circuit.

On Feb. 22, 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics and announced that it obtained more than $2.68 billion in settlements and judgments in fiscal year (FY) 2023 from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government, a 21% increase over the prior year's recoveries. As such, FY 2023 was another strong year for FCA enforcement and marked the fifteenth straight year where recoveries exceeded $2 billion. This past fiscal year also saw records set in several areas, including the highest number of settlements and judgments in DOJ history and a record number of civil investigative demands (CIDs) issued in connection with investigating FCA claims, revealing highly robust FCA investigative activity in 2023, which could signal even greater FCA judgments and recoveries in future years.