How Government Shutdowns Disrupt False Claims Act And Whistleblower Enforcement

While government shutdowns temporarily affect the pace of whistleblower investigations, enforcement under the False Claims Act and related programs remain resilient. Agencies like the Department of Justice, SEC, CFTC, and IRS continue to prioritize critical fraud detection and case preparation, even with limited staffing.

How do Government shutdowns temporarily affect False Claims Act investigations and DOJ litigation?

The Department of Justice (DOJ) maintains a Government shutdown employee furlough exception that applies to 89% of their workforce for the first 5 days of a Government shutdown. In the most recent Government shutdown, the DOJ was required to substantially limit all operations without compromising to a significant degree the safety of human life or the protection of property after the exception period expired. Accordingly, all criminal litigation under the U.S. Attorneys' offices continued without interruption while civil litigation was limited.