Are False Claims Act Whistleblower Cases Unconstitutional?

Are the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act an unconstitutional delegation of authority to private citizens? One federal court, accepting an invitation from a Supreme Court dissent, ruled the answer is yes.

In an opinion issued yesterday dismissing a False Claims Act case, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled that the statute's provisions that permit a private citizen to bring a claim for a violation of the False Claims Act in the absence of intervention by the Federal Government are an unconstitutional delegation of executive authority that violated the Appointments Clause of Article II of the Constitution.

According to the court, the qui tam provisions, as strengthened by the False Claims Act Amendments Act of 1986 (Pub. L. No. 99-562), established a mechanism whereby "unaccountable, unsworn, private actors" are permitted "to exercise core executive power with substantial consequences to