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"National Security" Limits Judicial Review Of CICA Stay Override

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.23.05

In Kropp Holdings, Inc. v. U.S. (Jan. 27, 2005), Judge Braden of the Court of Federal Claims held that, once legitimate interests of “national security” have been asserted and established to the court’s satisfaction, the court could stop review of a “best interests” CICA stay override, holding that national security makes it “not necessary” to go further. The Court also held that national security concerns and the context of a CICA stay override justify use of a more deferential standard of review of agency action than in the normal bid protest: whether the plaintiff demonstrated a clear error of judgment.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.14.26

DOJ’s False Claims Act Resolution Against IBM Signals Heightened Risk for Federal Contractors with DEI Programs

On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts due to allegedly discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employment practices. This resolution marks the first FCA settlement secured by the DOJ under its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created in May 2025, and announced by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the administration’s coordinated efforts to target allegedly unlawful DEI practices. Per the agreement, the settlement is neither an admission of liability by IBM nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded....