On July 23, 2026, the Department of Justice announced that clinical lab Magnolia Diagnostics and its owners agreed to pay $19.2 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False […]
On June 9, 2026, DOJ announced a settlement with Broadway Electric Inc. (“Broadway”); its subsidiary, Cornerstone Contracting Inc. (“Cornerstone”); and two of their individual executives, for $21.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The settlement targeted alleged fraud against the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) set-aside contract program for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (“SDVOSBs”). The settlement suggests that the government is surging resources to both anti-fraud issues generally, and to alleged SBA fraud in particular.
The Administration has taken another significant step in its effort to increase pressure on state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (“MFCUs”). On July 2, 2026, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”) denied recertification of New York’s MFCU and suspended its federal funding effective July 1. The decision follows the Administration’s announcements earlier this year that it would closely scrutinize state MFCU performance, including through funding consequences for states perceived as failing to aggressively investigate and prosecute Medicaid fraud.
On June 24, 2026, the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing on “Federal Research Funds: The False […]
This week, DOJ announced the results of its 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which involved charges against 455 defendants, including 90 medical professionals, in connection with alleged schemes involving […]
On June 18, 2026, DOJ announced a settlement with LOGZONE Inc., a defense contractor, to pay $507,144 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act through its failure to satisfy cybersecurity requirements in its contracts with the Department of the Navy (“the Navy”). This settlement involves yet another coordinated enforcement effort through the recently created Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, previously reported on here and here. DOJ reached this settlement with assistance from the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Army, and the Defense Contract Management Agency (“DCMA”). This settlement underscores cybersecurity compliance as a focus of FCA enforcement.
On June 10, 2026, nineteen states and the District of Columbia filed suit challenging President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14398, which seeks to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives among federal contractors and expressly links DEI-related conduct to potential False Claims Act (FCA) liability. The lawsuit, brought under the Administrative Procedure Act, targets the Order’s anti-DEI contracting provisions and the federal government’s efforts to implement them.
The states argue that the Executive Order’s attempt to designate compliance with its anti-DEI requirements as “material” to government payment decisions conflicts with the Supreme Court’s FCA materiality standard articulated in Universal Health Services v. Escobar. The complaint also challenges the Order on broader administrative law grounds, arguing that key terms are impermissibly vague and that agencies have failed to justify the Order’s underlying policy assumptions.
Read the full post for a closer look at the states’ materiality arguments and the potential implications for federal contractors facing increased FCA scrutiny of DEI-related practices.
In a Reuters article, Sidley partners Jaime Jones, Kristin Graham Koehler and Boyd Greene examine how the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative could create new False Claims Act (FCA) exposure for healthcare and life sciences companies that receive federal funding or contract with the federal government. The initiative seeks to use the FCA to pursue organizations that allegedly violate federal civil rights laws while certifying compliance with contractual, grant or funding requirements.