1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Follow Up: White House Issues Order under Defense Production Act as Part of COVID Response

Follow Up: White House Issues Order under Defense Production Act as Part of COVID Response

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.23.20

In our March 19 alert, C&M summarized President Trump’s recent executive order invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA). In this follow-up, we provide three separate analyses. First, we provide a discussion of the Defense Production Act, and the implications of the executive order for U.S. businesses and the government in its efforts to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Second, we discuss the current Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations implementing its priorities and allocations authority prior to the executive order. And third, we discuss the manner in which the government most frequently has exercised similar authorities under the DPA pursuant to the Defense Prioritization and Allocation System (DPAS).

Contacts

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....

View All Insights