Eight score and three years ago, on March 2, 1863, President Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (“FCA”) during the Civil War as an attempt to combat rampant profiteering by contractors and suppliers who were defrauding the Union Army by selling substandard or even nonexistent products. These products included items such as crates labeled as gunpowder (but instead contained sawdust), sick horses and lame mules, defective firearms, and moth-eaten blankets. The FCA, sometimes referred to as “Lincoln’s Law,” has been amended several times since its enactment, most notably in 1986 to increase whistleblower rewards, strengthen whistleblower protections, and lower the government’s burden of proof.
The statute is indeed versatile and broad and remains one of the oldest and most significant tools for the US Government in preventing and penalizing fraud. It applies today across a wide range of industries and sectors—well beyond the original focus on defense contractors and government procurement—essentially acting as an omnibus anti-fraud tool used to combat any form of alleged misfeasance involving government money. In observance of the FCA’s 163rd birthday, this client alert discusses several developments from the past year relating to Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2025 FCA enforcements and recoveries and the FCA’s sister, the Administrative False Claims Act (“AFCA”), and also discusses key points that contractors and grant recipients should consider for FY 2026.
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