In United States ex rel. Taylor v. Healthcare Associates of Texas, the Fifth Circuit is considering whether the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act violate Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Passed in 1863, the False Claims Act imposes liability on entities that defraud the government and permits private citizens to sue and split the amount recovered with the government. Relying on this statute, Cheryl Taylor sued Healthcare Associates of Texas (HCAT), and a jury found that HCAT had submitted tens of thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicare, costing taxpayers over two million dollars.
In response to the litigation, HCAT reprised an argument that numerous lower courts rejected decades ago, namely that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act authorizing private suits are unconstitutional under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, because they permit private litigants to exercise enforcement power solely vested in the executive branch. Applying binding circuit court precedent, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas rejected HCAT’s arguments. HCAT then appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In January 2026, the Constitutional Accountability Center filed an amicus brief in support of neither party on behalf of legal scholars. Our brief explains that qui tam litigation has a long history and has never been considered an infringement on the executive power.
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