On March 2, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (FCA) into law. Over the past century and a half, the law, which offers whistleblower awards under its qui tam provisions, has emerged as America’s number one anti-fraud law.
Now turning 162, the False Claims Act faces an immense threat, as a district court ruled in September that its qui tam provisions are unconstitutional. At the same time, however, government officials are promising “aggressive” enforcement of the law and to defend the constitutionality of its qui tam provisions.
America’s Number One Anti-Fraud Law
Faced with government contracting fraud undermining the nation’s war effort during the Civil War, Congress looked for a new law to fight back against fraudsters. The FCA’s qui tam provisions, which allow individuals to file suit alleging fraud on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recoveries from a successful case, provided a new tool to do so.
Senator Jacob Howard, who introduced the original bill, stated that offering a whistleblower reward is the “safest and most expeditious way I have ever discovered of bringing rogues to justice.”
While the law has seen many forms over the past century and a half, 1986 amendments solidified the modern version of the FCA and its qui tam provisions. Since then the results have been immense.
Overall, the U.S. government has recovered over $78 billion in taxpayers funds from fraudsters since 1986. Over $55 billion of these recoveries stemmed from cases initiated by whistleblowers.
And the law is as powerful as ever. During FY 2024, settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.9 billion and over $2.4 billion of the recoveries stemmed from qui tam whistleblower lawsuits. Furthermore, according to the government, a record 979 qui tam lawsuits were filed in FY 2024.
“The False Claims Act and its [whistleblower] provisions remain the government’s most effective civil tool in protecting vital government programs from fraud schemes,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Bill Baer in remarks at American Bar Association’s 11th National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement.
Attacks on Constitutionality
In September 2024, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled that the qui tam provisions of the FCA are unconstitutional in United States of America ex rel. Clarissa Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al. According to the ruling, qui tam whistleblowing undermines executive power.
The ruling has been widely condemned by the federal government, members of Congress, constitutional scholars, and anti-fraud advocates,
In an amicus brief urging an appeals court to overturn the ruling, the U.S. government stated that “other than the district court here, every court to have addressed the constitutionality of the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions has upheld them.”
In another brief, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who authored the FCA’s 1986 amendments and has long championed the law, noted the historical evidence that the Framers viewed qui tam laws as constitutional, writing that “The First Congress that enacted numerous statutes that featured qui tam provisions made clear that, at the time of the founding, the legislature believed that the limited rights granted relators fell within the Constitutional separation of powers many of them had personally fashioned.”
Government Support for False Claims Act
While the Zafirov ruling poses a grave risk to the effectiveness of the FCA to fight fraud, the U.S. government has remained dedicated to supporting the law’s constitutionality and enforcing it aggressively.
During her Senate confirmation hearing on January 15, Senator Grassley asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if she would commit to defending the constitutionality of the FCA.
“I would defend the constitutionality of course of the False Claims Act,” Bondi stated. “The False Claims Act is so important, especially by what you said with whistleblowers.”
In a keynote address at the Federal Bar Association’s annual qui tam conference, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston promised that moving forward the Department of Justice “plans to continue to aggressively enforce the False Claims Act.”
National Whistleblower Center Takes Action
In light of the attacks on the False Claims Act, National Whistleblower Center has made protecting the law one of its major campaigns for 2025.
National Whistleblower Center has issued an Action Alert allowing whistleblower supporters to write the members of Congress urging them to protect and strengthen and protect the False Claims Act.