On January 28, 2026, the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals ("CBCA" or the "Board") issued its final rules governing the Board's administrative process for deciding claims referred to the Board under the Administrative False Claims Act of 2023 ("AFCA"), as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 ("FY 2025 NDAA").

The AFCA, previously known as the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986, allows administrative investigations and prosecution of false claims and statements made by contractors to the government that the U.S. Department of Justice elects not to pursue. The FY 2025 NDAA that amended the AFCA also amended the Contract Disputes Act to expand the jurisdiction of the CBCA to hear fraud claims referred to the Board under the AFCA.

This article highlights the key aspects of the amended AFCA, as well as the Board's newly implemented rules governing AFCA hearings.

Key Aspects of the AFCA

There are several revisions to the AFCA as a result of the recent amendments. Below are some highlights of the revised statute:

• The AFCA provides an administrative process that allows agencies to pursue false claims and statements for relatively small dollar amounts that the U.S. Department of Justice elects not to prosecute;
• The AFCA provides for administrative, rather than judicial, resolution (unlike the False Claims Act);

• The ceiling for AFCA enforcement actions is $1 million. This amount is to be periodically adjusted for inflation;
• The AFCA...

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