Department of Justice

On December 19, 2025 and January 30, 2026, the United States Sentencing Commission released proposed amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for 2026. See U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, Proposed 2026 Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (Dec. 2025 and Jan. 2026). Taken together, these amendments suggest a meaningful recalibration of how federal sentences may be calculated and, for some defendants, an opportunity for more individualized and potentially less severe outcomes.

We just released Episode 39 of the False Claims Act Insights podcast where I discussed recent oral arguments in the Third Circuit appeal of the Janssen Products case with Husch Blackwell’s Abe Souza. Abe explains how the trial of this declined qui tam—in which the Justice Department declined to intervene—led to a split

On March 10, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (“CEP”), which now governs all corporate criminal matters handled by DOJ except for antitrust violations. This new policy creates a single set of standards for voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and remediation across the Department.

Rebecca Furdek recently published an article in Wisconsin Lawyer magazine reviewing the first year of the second Trump administration. She discusses three primary trends: the use of executive orders, deregulation across federal agencies, and white-collar enforcement priorities. As Rebecca explains, “[t]he second Trump term started with a splash in both the federal regulatory and enforcement

On January 28, 2026, Brenna Jenny, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, delivered comments to False Claims Act (“FCA”) practitioners about DOJ’s FCA statistics for the previous year and some of her office’s priorities for the years ahead. Jenny leads the DOJ attorneys that handle FCA investigations nationwide. Delivered at an American Conference Institute meeting in New York, Jenny touted DOJ’s record-breaking total of settlements and judgments exceeding $6.8 billion last year and confirmed there is more to come.

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently released its 2025 statistics for federal False Claims Act cases. With settlements and judgments exceeding $6.8 billion last year, DOJ’s report shows that the False Claims Act (“FCA”) remains one of DOJ’s most potent and frequently-used investigation tools. The annual report also suggests that, after a year of change and turnover that touched virtually every corner and level at DOJ, the coming year will most certainly feature a historically high volume of FCA cases. Recipients of federal funds in the healthcare industry, federal contractors, and grant recipients should pay careful attention to every claim for payment or compliance certification submitted to any federal authority.

In white-collar criminal cases, forfeiture is one of the most consequential sentencing components, yet it remains overlooked and misunderstood by practitioners. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit’s recent decision in United States v. Ng Chong Hwa demonstrates why a thorough understanding of forfeiture is essential.

2025 has been a landmark year for False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement, marked by record-breaking settlements, evolving legal theories, and a broadening scope of government priorities. The FCA remains one of the federal government’s most potent tools for combating fraud, with billions recovered annually and an ever-expanding reach into new sectors and compliance areas. This roundup synthesizes the year’s most significant developments—drawing on recent case law and shifting enforcement priorities—and provides actionable insights for businesses navigating the FCA landscape.

2025 marked another notable year in State Attorneys General (AG) enforcement, with both a sharp uptick in multistate AG actions filed against the federal government and significant actions targeting the private sector across industries. We will highlight two issue areas here—antitrust and consumer protection—and describe the escalating friction between State AGs and the federal government as well as distill this year’s trends into actionable takeaways for businesses as we enter 2026.

This year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) increased its focus on white-collar crime enforcement in some areas, prioritized new areas, and shifted resources away from others. Many of these changes are reflected in Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti’s May 12, 2025, memorandum to the DOJ’s Criminal Division (Galeotti Memo), which highlighted 10 high-impact areas of white-collar crime for enforcement:[1]