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Changes to Acquisition Thresholds On the Way

Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.29.15

On July 2, 2015, the FAR Council published a final rule, effective October 1, 2015, increasing the micro-purchase base threshold to $3,500 (from $3,000), that for use of simplified acquisition procedures for acquisition of commercial items to $7 million (from $6.5 million), the cost or pricing data threshold and the Cost Accounting Standard threshold to $750,000 (from $700,000), the prime contractor subcontracting plan floor to $700,000 (from $650,000), and the threshold for reporting first-tier subcontract information (including executive compensation) to $30,000 (from $25,000). The simplified acquisition threshold ($150,000) and the construction threshold ($1.5 million) will remain at current levels.


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Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25

Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality

On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument....