From time to time, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has established initiatives, task forces, or strike teams to advance its enforcement priorities. In recent years, DOJ has announced a Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, and a Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, in each instance explicitly invoking a plan to use the False Claims Act (“FCA”) for civil enforcement.
DOJ announced the latest version of this enforcement approach on May 19, 2025, when Deputy Attorney General (“DAG”) Todd Blanche issued a memorandum announcing a new Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (“the Initiative”), described as a coordinated and “vigorous” effort to leverage the specter of FCA liability against recipients of federal funding alleged to be violating civil rights laws. The types of alleged civil rights violations targeted by this Initiative relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs, antisemitism, and transgender policy, all of which dovetail with a number of Executive Orders (“EOs”) expressing President Trump’s approach to these issues.
Some of the EOs relevant to the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative include:
EO No. 14151: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (January 20, 2025). This EO directs federal government agencies to end DEI and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (“DEIA”) programs, to eliminate positions such as “Chief Diversity Officer,” and to terminate grants and...
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