Mandatory Disclosure And Cooperation To Be Proposed For Commercial Item And Overseas Contractors
Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.16.08
In a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on April 15, 2008, the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy indicated that he is inclined to issue a new proposed rule that would subject commercial item contracts and contracts performed overseas to mandatory disclosure to the agency inspector general when the contractor "has reasonable grounds to believe that a principal, employee, agency, or subcontractor of the [c]ontractor has committed a violation of Federal criminal law in connection with the award or performance of [a] contract or any subcontract thereunder." Such proposed rule would also modify a November 14, 2007 proposal, discussed in the linked article by C&M's Angela Styles, to mandate "[f]ull cooperation with Government agencies responsible for audit, investigation, or corrective action" for commercial item and overseas contracts.
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
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.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
