On May 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement under the False Claims Act (FCA) with two Canada-based steel companies, Farjess Inc. and Royal Canadian Steel Inc., and their part-owner and president, Feroz Jessani, pursuant to which the companies and Jessani agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that they
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DoW Proposed Rule Would Impose New FOCI Disclosure and Risk Mitigation Requirements on Thousands of Defense Contractors
On May 7, 2026, the Department of War (DoW) published a proposed rule that would dramatically expand the population of defense contractors that are required to disclose beneficial ownership and foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) information to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) and to mitigate identified FOCI risks. At present, DCSA addresses…
New Executive Order Mandates Shift to Fixed-Price Contracting, Requires Review of Largest Cost-Reimbursement Contracts
On April 30, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting” (the “Order”), directing executive branch agencies to default to fixed-price contracts and contracts that tie contractor profit to performance-based metrics in federal procurement. The Order also requires agencies to review and, to the maximum…
Monitor Upcoming Negotiations of Education Department’s AIM Committee to Inform Public Comments on Accreditation Amendments
Stakeholders negotiating sweeping amendments to federal accreditation regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will begin their final session to achieve consensus on May 18, 2026.
A week-long effort in April revealed deep divisions among negotiators on the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Committee of the ED. Debates broke out over the ED’s…
DOJ’s New West Coast Strike Force Puts Health Care Providers on Notice
On April 30, 2026, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”) announced the formation of the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force, a multi-district enforcement initiative spanning Arizona, Nevada, and the Northern District of California. [1] Announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, the new Strike Force signals a significant…
FAR Council Issues Implementation Guidance for Executive Order 14398: New DEI Contract Clause Requirements for Federal Contractors
On April 20, 2026, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued agency implementation guidance for Executive Order (E.O.) 14398, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” which President Trump signed on March 26, 2026. The guidance introduces a new contract clause — FAR 52.222-90 — and establishes tight deadlines for agencies to incorporate the clause…
GSA AI Procurement Rules Would Introduce New Disclosure and Use-Rights Requirements for Federal Contractors
The General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service has released draft contract terms and conditions related to artificial intelligence (AI)-related procurements through a new proposed GSAR clause 552.239-7001, “Basic Safeguarding of Artificial Intelligence Systems (FEB 2026) (GSAR Deviation), that would impose material new requirements on contractors and service providers supplying artificial intelligence capabilities to the…
Old Wine, New Bottles? FinCEN Proposes to Codify AML/CFT Program Standards for Financial Institutions
On April 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would formalize and, in certain respects, update the requirements for financial institutions’ anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) programs under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). While FinCEN has characterized…
SEC Enforcement Speaks in 2026: Enforcement Division Moves “Full Steam Ahead” with Focus on Quality over Quantity, Procedural Fairness, and Targeted Pursuit of Non-Fraud Violations
SEC Acting Enforcement Director Sam Waldon declared recently that his division is moving “full steam ahead” against those who “lie, cheat, and steal” but also is focusing on quality over quantity. He rejected traditional metrics — case counts, penalty totals and aggregate dollar amounts — as effective measures of the SEC’s enforcement program.
At the…
New Executive Order Targets DEI Practices by Federal Contractors, Imposes Mandatory Contract Clause and FCA Liability
Continuing his Administration’s efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” on March 26, 2026 that directs all executive departments and agencies to include a new clause in all federal contracts and subcontracts prohibiting what the order defines as “racially discriminatory…