IR&D Reporting Requirements Reinstated
Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.30.12
In a final rule published today, the DFARS were amended to reinstate a requirement that was eliminated from the regulations in the early 1990s, providing that as a condition of allowability for Independent Research and Development (IR&D) costs, major contractors must submit to DoD at least annually technical descriptions of the IR&D projects that the contractor claims as allowable. In response to criticism of a draft regulation proposing a $50,000 coverage threshold, the final rule limits mandatory reporting to “major contractors” that allocate more than $11 million annually to “covered contracts” (a term that excludes fixed-price contracts without cost incentives), leaves largely to the contractor’s discretion how much detail needs to be reported in the on-line template through which the reports must be submitted, encourages voluntary reporting by contractors not subject to the mandatory requirement, and promises that the reports will be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
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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
