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.