Insights

Washington – July 14, 2022: The National Law Journal named Crowell & Moring counsel Katie Erno to its 2022 list of Employment Law Trailblazers. The list features lawyers who are “agents of change” and have made significant marks on their sector.

Washington – January 2, 2020: Crowell & Moring elected eight lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2020. The firm also promoted seven attorneys to the position of senior counsel, and 26 associates to the position of counsel. The new partners have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm’s Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco offices. The new partners have been promoted from across offices and practice groups, including White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement, Health Care, International Trade, Intellectual Property, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Government Contracts, Litigation, and Antitrust.

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.

On March 26, 2026, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) titled Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors. The EO declares diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “activities” “unethical and often illegal,” and imposes new obligations on federal contractors and subcontractors related to DEI programming. Contractors that do business with the federal government — or that work as subcontractors for companies that do — should review the EO closely to determine the extent to which they are compliant with the new requirements.

On July 29, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued new guidance to all federal agencies entitled “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” (“Guidance”). The Guidance purports to “clarif[y] the application of federal antidiscrimination laws to programs or initiatives that may involve discriminatory practices, including those labeled as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (‘DEI’) programs.” It declares that “[e]ntities receiving federal funds . . . must ensure that their programs and activities comply with federal law and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or other protected characteristics,” and identifies a series of “‘Best Practices’ as non-binding suggestions to help entities comply with federal antidiscrimination laws and avoid legal pitfalls.” The Guidance is the most comprehensive articulation of the Administration’s view of what constitutes unlawful DEI released since President Trump’s Executive Order, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, issued on January 21, 2025.

Please join us on Wednesday, November 10 at 3 pm EST, for a follow-up presentation on the Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate.  The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has issued additional guidance and certain federal agencies have elaborated on their policies for implementing the new federal requirements.  Our webinar will discuss key developments that have arisen in recent weeks, challenges that contractors are facing, and common questions.  We hope you will join us.  If there are particular topics or questions you would like us to address, we encourage you to reach out to any of the presenters in advance.

Click below to listen or access from one of these links:

This week’s episode covers developments involving DOJ’s guidance for federal funding recipients regarding DEI and the White House AI Action Plan, and is hosted by Peter Eyre, Katie Erno, and Matthew F. Ferraro. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.