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On January 16, 2026, the Department of Justice released its annual report on the False Claims Act announcing a record year of recoveries for fiscal year 2025. The numbers are noteworthy. DOJ recovered over $6.8 billion in judgments and settlements, which more than doubles last year's recoveries of approximately $3.1 billion. Only once has DOJ reported recovering more than $6 billion, which was in 2014 when numerous mortgage fraud settlements from the housing crisis drove recoveries.
Healthcare fraud continued to dominate the government's recoveries accounting for over $5.7 billion of the total haul, including a $1.6 billion verdict in a qui tam suit against Janssen Products which is the largest verdict to date under the statute. Cases alleging procurement/grant fraud, tariff and customs avoidance, and cybersecurity fraud were responsible for the remainder of the government's recoveries.
While the record amount is noteworthy, the more notable statistic was the record number of qui tam cases filed last year. In 2025, whistleblowers filed 1,297 new cases, which eclipses the prior record of 980 cases filed in 2024. While most of these new cases in 2025 remain under seal pending DOJ investigation, the two consecutive record-breaking years indicate a coming substantial rise in false claims litigation in 2026 and beyond.
Also notable is that DOJ's press release once again emphasized its intent to use the False Claims Act to further the administration's "America First" policy objectives, including ending what it believes to be illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, combating antisemitism, and prohibiting gender affirming care. While using the False Claims Act to help enforce an administration's goals is nothing new, these particular initiatives represent an expansion of enforcement activities under the statute. Prioritizing these initiatives will almost certainly lead to some novel theories under the False Claims Act, resulting in increased risk for all companies that receive any federal money.
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