Zafirov Update: Eleventh Circuit Sides With Relators On Appointments Clause, But Article II Challenges Remain

On September 1, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, vacating the district court’s ruling that the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam provisions violate the Appointments Clause of Article II. The court found that FCA relators are not “Officers of the United States” because they do not occupy a “continuing position established by law,” and therefore are not subject to the Appointments Clause’s requirements. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision aligns with decisions from other circuits rejecting similar Appointments Clause challenges, but it is the first to do so since Justice Thomas’s dissent in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources.