Recent settlements in DOJ antitrust enforcement actions have raised concerns on Capitol Hill and beyond about the adequacy of current safeguards governing the settlement of federal antitrust cases. 

On March 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois decided that federal grantees can challenge grant terminations by the Administration if at the time of termination the grantees were compliant with Administration policies that were in place at the time the grant was awarded, as opposed to new rules or policies subsequently imposed by the Trump Administration. This decision could aid federal contractors and grantees in their legal challenges to the numerous contract and grant terminations, which have occurred since January 2025, based on alleged failure of the contracts or grants to align with or effectuate new Administration programs, policies, goals, and/or priorities, including, but not limited to, those relating to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies. 

In a high-stakes decision on expert exclusion authored late last month, the District Court for the Northern District of California granted defendants’ motion to exclude plaintiffs’ general causation expert witnesses in In re Baby Food Products Liability Litigation—a consolidated mass tort of over 100 pending cases regarding the alleged presence of toxic heavy metals in baby food.