Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Government Contracts partners Dominique L. Casimir and Justin A. Chiarodo have been named to Law360’s 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards. As board members, the partners will provide feedback on Law360’s coverage and share insights on how to best shape future coverage.
Dominique, who serves as co-chair of Blank Rome’s General Litigation practice group, has been named to Law360’s 2025 Diversity & Inclusion Editorial Advisory Board. In 2022, she served on Law360’s Aerospace & Defense Editorial Advisory Board.
Justin, who serves as chair of our firm’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services industry team and co-chair of our firm’s Government Contracts practice group, has been named to Law360’s Aerospace & Defense Editorial Advisory Board for the third time.
Learn more about other Blank Rome partners serving on Law360’s 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards on our website.
One of the more attention-grabbing aspects of Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” is the specter of False Claims Act liability for federal contractors based on their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Many workplace DEI programs have been viewed as a complement to federal anti-discrimination law—a tool for reducing the risk of discrimination lawsuits. The new administration, however, views DEI programs as a potential source of discrimination. EO 14173 proclaims that “critical and influential institutions of American society … have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil- rights laws of this Nation.” To counteract this potential “illegal” use of DEI programs, the Trump administration is leveraging the FCA, a powerful anti-fraud statute, to enforce its policy within the Federal Government contractor community.
We discuss below the framework of the FCA, how it might apply to federal contractor DEI programs under the administration’s orders, and potential hurdles the Government may face in pursuing FCA claims based on a contractor’s allegedly illegal DEI program. We recommend steps contractors can take to mitigate potential FCA risks when evaluating their own DEI programs.
“False Claims Act Liability Based On A DEI Program? Let’s Think It Through,” by Dominique Casimir, Jennifer Short, and Robyn Burrows was published in The Government Contractor, Volume 67 Issue 10, on March 12, 2025.
This article originally appeared as a Blank Rome LLP alert.
Uncertainty for companies when making business decisions is a new norm. Tariffs aren’t going to be the only thing that is on again and off again. The same is happening with directives governing diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives. In the first two days of President Trump’s second term, he signed two DEI-related executive orders (“EOs”), EO 14151 (Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing) and EO 14173 (Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity). While they were in effect, these EOs caused widespread concern throughout the public and private sector as entities scrambled to understand the implications for their businesses. Approximately a month later, a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction that stopped the government from implementing key provisions of the two EOs. However, the tide turned on Friday, March 14, 2025, when a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s motion to stay the injunction pending appeal. This ruling empowers the government to resume the implementation of EO 14151 and EO 14173.
While the preliminary injunction was in effect, the government was precluded from (1) terminating “equity-related” contracts and grants pursuant to EO 14151, (2) requiring that government contractors and grantees sign a DEI certification pursuant to EO 14173, and (3) bringing any False Claims Act (“FCA”) or other enforcement action premised on the DEI certification. (As we have previously explained, the certification requirement in EO 14173 is intended to deter contractor and grantee DEI-programs by invoking the specter of FCA liability.)
Now that the injunction is stayed, an emboldened government will likely move swiftly to terminate contracts and grants that it views as being “equity-related” and to require contractors and grantees to execute the DEI certification. We have previously recommended general steps that contractors and grantees can take as they navigate a rapidly changing environment in which the president signs new EOs almost daily. Below, we offer recommendations specific to the government’s renewed ability to implement the previously enjoined provisions of the DEI-related EOs.
In the four weeks since President Trump issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14151 (“Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”) and EO 14173 (“Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”), virtually all sectors of American society have been scrambling to understand their compliance obligations and seeking to reduce legal risk. Businesses have taken a range of approaches, from preparing to defend their diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) commitments to removing public-facing references to DEI. Some government contractors have received DEI-related certifications required by EO 14173, which implicate enforcement under the False Claims Act (“FCA”).
In a significant new development, on February 21, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against both EO 14151 and EO 14173. Here’s what federal contractors need to know.
On February 18, 2025, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) announced that it issued GSA Class Deviation CD-2025-04 (“the GSA Class Deviation”) effective February 15, 2025, to implement Executive Order (“EO”) 14173 titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which, as Blank Rome has previously written about here and here, revoked the landmark 60-year-old EO 11246 titled “Equal Employment Opportunity.”
In honor of Black History Month, we wanted to highlight one of the most impactful traditions in our Washington, D.C., office: the Black History Month D.C. Easel Project, in which Blank Rome attorneys, staff, and clients work together to create easels depicting notable historic events and figures from D.C.’s rich African American history. Thanks to the leadership and innovation of our partner Saminaz Akhter, the Easel Project has deepened our awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions Black people have made in our Nation’s Capital (you can learn more about the program in this video).
The theme for last year’s easels was civil demonstrations and protests, including the 1919 Red Summer riot, the 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial, the 1958/59 Youth March for Integrated Schools, the 2020 George Floyd protests, and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Our research on the origins of the 1963 March on Washington revealed a surprising connection to the defense industry that we wanted to spotlight for our “Sustained Action” readership.
The seeds for the March on Washington were sown decades earlier, when A. Phillip Randolph (head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and an early leader of the civil rights movement) proposed a mass march on Washington, D.C., to highlight segregation and discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces and the defense industry.
We are thrilled to kick off our new Government Contracts Navigator blog series, “Sustained Action: DEI in Government Contracting,” which shines a light on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and progress in the government contracts industry and at Blank Rome. As we wrote back in 2020, working to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a one-time exercise but a practice—one to which we are committed for the long run.
We approach this effort fully embracing that we bring our own backgrounds, journeys, and perspectives to a complicated area, and that fostering an environment of mutual respect and the free exchange of ideas is critical to promoting the understanding of different viewpoints and implementing solutions that make a difference.
