The Small Business Runway Extension Act Is One Step Closer to Take Off
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.08.19
On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Small Business Administration published a rule proposing to amend the time period for calculating average annual receipts for SBA’s receipts-based size standards from three to five years. This rule would implement the congressional intent behind the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018, which the SBA previously instructed did not permit small businesses to immediately begin certifying against a five-year time period. In the proposed rule, the SBA again warns that the three-year calculation period continues to apply to any offer submitted prior to the effective date of a final rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due by August 23, 2019.
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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
