DOJ Investigating Google, Verizon, Other Major Companies Under False Claims Act
Of the many bold promises made by President Donald Trump during the lead-up to his resounding 2024 general election win, the president’s acted on many of them.
From mass immigration crackdowns to protecting girls in sports to empowering law enforcement, Trump has largely kept to his promises.
It now appears he’s going after another target he’s long derided: DEI-based hiring activities.
And the Trump administration appears set to go about it in a “novel” way.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is investigating some of the biggest businesses in America over the usage of diversity initiatives in their hiring practices.
Importantly, the administration is doing this through the “novel use of a federal law meant to punish businesses that cheat the government.”
The investigations are unfolding under the False Claims Act, a law traditionally used to punish contractors who overcharged the government or billed taxpayers for work that was never done.
For decades, the statute has served as a guardrail against abuse of federal contracts, ensuring companies play by the rules when public money is involved.
Now, the Justice Department is applying that same standard to what it sees as a newer form of misrepresentation.
Under the emerging theory, companies that accept federal contracts while continuing to factor diversity considerations into hiring may be misleading the government about compliance with contractual and legal obligations.
Supporters of the approach argue it reflects a broader effort — championed by the Trump administration — to rein in politicized corporate practices that have crept into areas funded by taxpayers.
If upheld, the interpretation could allow the government to recover millions of dollars from firms found to be out of compliance.
Alphabet’s Google and Verizon Communications are among the many major companies that have received Justice Department demands for documents and records related to their workplace and hiring programs, according to people familiar with the investigations.
The scrutiny reaches far beyond tech and telecom, spanning industries from automotive and pharmaceuticals to defense and utilities, with some firms already meeting directly with Justice Department officials. The full list of companies under review has not been disclosed.
Legal hurdles remain if the Justice Department ultimately files false claims lawsuits tied to corporate diversity programs.
To prevail in court, the government would need to show that a company misrepresented its compliance when securing a federal contract and then knowingly submitted claims that failed to meet those requirements.
Even so, the probes are already sending a clear signal to corporate America that federal contracts come with expectations — and that ideological workplace policies may no longer be treated as harmless add-ons.
That warning carries real weight. A successful civil case under the False Claims Act can leave companies on the hook for three times the damages, turning what once looked like routine corporate virtue signaling into an extraordinarily costly gamble.
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