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GAO Stands Down in Lengthy Dispute with VA Over Set-Asides

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.26.12

In Kingdomware Techs.--Recon., GAO put the Veteran Owned and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business community on notice that it will no longer hear protests alleging that VA violated the Veterans Benefits Act of 2006 by using the Federal Supply Schedule without first determining whether a set aside was appropriate for them because protesters "will be unable to obtain meaningful relief" from GAO. The decision followed over a year of the VA defying numerous GAO recommendations on this very issue and a Court of Federal Claims decision by Judge Firestone in December favoring the agency's interpretation.


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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....

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