On March 17, 2025, WLF urged the Eleventh Circuit to affirm a Middle District of Florida decision declaring the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions unconstitutional. In its amicus brief urging affirmance, WLF explains why only the executive branch is empowered to represent the interests of the United States in litigation. Congress cannot delegate that power to private actors. Officers in the executive branch are appointed to an office of public trust and act under obligation of oath, at peril of impeachment. And Article II’s directives protect against the abuse of prosecutorial discretion. The FCA upends that design by allowing private relators to wield the tremendous power of public prosecution with no constitutional checks on their discretion.
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