RECENT RULINGS

(decided February 21, 2025)

The federal False Claims Act allows the federal government, and sometimes private bounty hunters, to sue people who have made “false claims” against the government. In this case, the Court unanimously ruled that a request for money addressed to a private contractor for the federal government can qualify as a “false claim” against the government despite the fact the government itself lost no money of its own as a result of the “false claim.” In so holding the Court relied on the False Claims Act’s language, which defined a “claim” under the Act to be a request for money that the federal government either “provides or has provided” to someone else, regardless of who owned title to the money at the time it was lost.

COMMENT: This case rightly elevates the objective meaning of the text of the False Claims Act over any party’s, or any court’s, speculation as to its subjective purpose.