Today, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, a case addressing the constitutionality of qui tam relators that has drawn national attention. At stake is the future of qui tam whistleblower actions under the FCA—a statutory scheme that has, for decades, empowered private individuals to bring fraud claims on behalf
Government Contracts & Investigations Blog
Latest updates on Developments Affecting Government Contracts & Investigations
Latest from Government Contracts & Investigations Blog
What to Expect When the Government Reopens: Key Considerations for Businesses
When the federal government reopens after a shutdown, the return to “business as usual” is rarely immediate. Agencies face backlogs, funding adjustments, and operational hurdles that can directly impact companies, contractors, and regulated entities. Below we outline several key issues businesses should anticipate in the days and weeks following a reopening of the federal government.…
How Far Do They Reach? Four Issues Entities Should Consider When Analyzing the Trump Administration Executive Orders Related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Trump Administration Executive Orders related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”), Executive Order 14170 (Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service) and Executive Order 14173 (Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity) (the “EOs”), have given businesses and other organizations (including universities) much to think about regarding their DEI initiatives.…
Trump DEI Executive Orders – Impacts on Small Businesses and Small Business Subcontracting
By Anne Perry & Nikole Snyder
On January 20 and 21, 2025, President Trump signed two executive orders focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs: EO 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” and EO 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit‐Based Opportunity” (the “EOs”). You can read more about the content of these EOs here.…
What Should Contractors and Grant Recipients do in Response to the DEI Executive Orders?
By Anne Perry & Katie Calogero
In Part 1 of our blog series, we outlined the Trump Administration’s new Executive Orders (“EOs”) on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (“DEI”) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (“DEIA”) programs, and the current legal status of those EOs. In this second part, we provide several observations on what actions federal contractors and grant recipients might want…
The Trump Administration’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Orders: A Brief Primer
The first 100 days of President Trump’s second term have been action-packed with the President issuing 43 Executive Orders within hours of his inauguration – and an additional 46 that soon followed. Two Executive Orders in particular – Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences,” and Executive Order 14173, “Ending…
FedRAMP 20x – Major Overhaul Announced to Streamline the Security Authorization Process for Government Cloud Offerings
On March 24, 2025, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) announced a major overhaul of the program, which is being called “FedRAMP 20x.” The FedRAMP 20x announcement stated there are no immediate changes to the existing authorization path based on agency sponsorship and assessment against the FedRAMP Rev 5 baseline.[1] However, once…
Looking Beyond FedRAMP – Lessons from the U.S. Treasury Cybersecurity Incident
In the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity, even organizations that meet stringent security standards can be victims of sophisticated cyberattacks. A notable example of this is the December 8, 2024 cybersecurity incident involving the U.S. Department of the Treasury and its third-party cloud service provider, BeyondTrust. This incident underscores some critical lessons for entities (both government…
At Long Last – The FAR CUI Rule is Here!
The wait is finally over! After more than 14 years of anticipation, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Proposed Rule on Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”) was released on January 15, 2025 and comes as part of the Government’s broader efforts to identify, detect, and respond to ever-evolving threats targeting Federal contractors.…
DoD Issues Proposed Rule for New Disclosures on Foreign Review of Computer Code
On November 15, 2024, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued a long-awaited Proposed Rule to implement Section 1655 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.…