D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces Creation of Standalone Division Focused on False Claims Act Enforcement
On September 23, 2026, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced the creation of a new Fraud and Asset Recovery Division. The new Division will be dedicated to investigating and pursuing fraud against the federal government with a “particular focus” on the False Claims Act (“FCA”). This represents a significant reorganization—and expansion—of that Office’s affirmative civil enforcement capacity.
According to the announcement, the D.C. USAO will “significantly increase and realign” resources from the Affirmative Civil Enforcement unit currently housed within the Civil Division. The reorganization is intended to separate affirmative enforcement work from the “overwhelming demands” of the Civil Division’s defensive docket. The new Division will include dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorneys, investigators, auditors, and support staff. In addition to former ACE prosecutors from the Civil Division, the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) will also be housed in the new Division.
FCA enforcement will be a central component of the Division’s work. In the announcement, the D.C. USAO highlighted its history of partnering with DOJ’s Civil Fraud Section, federal investigative agencies, and whistleblowers on FCA matters. According to U.S. Attorney Pirro, the new Division will serve to “consolidate our resources to hold fraudsters accountable and recover taxpayer dollars.” The Division’s mandate will extend beyond the FCA, however, to include other affirmative civil enforcement matters, civil collections, enforcement of agency and Office of Inspector General subpoenas, and civil asset forfeiture.
The announcement is notable because the realignment of resources around ACE/FCA work at the USAO-level will likely lead to a tangible increase in investigations. Relieving former Civil AUSAs from the burdens of an ever-increasing docket of civil defensive matters will leave more time for investigatory work, including review of qui tam complaints, drafting CIDs, and partnering with agents. This emphasis will only be further sharpened by placing at the head of the Division a Senior Trial Counsel from Civil Frauds, who is currently serving as a Special Assistant United States Attorney at the D.C. USAO.
What’s more, combining the ACE unit with the FLU could also lead to: (1) increased litigation and (2) increased coordination between civil and criminal prosecutors on issues related to government program fraud. FLUs at USAOs are tasked with, among other things, collecting on restitution debts in connection with criminal cases. In that role, FLU AUSAs are often involved early on in high leverage criminal fraud work—which may lead to increased coordination between the AUSAs in this new standalone division and their criminal counterparts. As such, especially when it comes to alleged government program fraud, entities will want to be especially attuned to the possibility of parallel civil/criminal investigations emanating from the D.C. USAO in the wake of this change.
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