Will Whistleblowers Opportunities Rise If/When the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery “Sunsets?”

Without Congressional action, the authority of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) will sunset on March 27, 2025. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government disbursed an estimated $800 billion through pandemic relief programs since then. SIGPR was created by the CARES Act to oversee the spending of government funds disbursed through the CARES Act.

According to its most recent report, SIGPR has recovered more than $187 million stemming from its investigations into fraud, waste, abuse, or misconduct involving CARES Act funds.[1] SIGPR claims that its outstanding investigations could lead to an additional $577 million in recoveries. If SIGPR sunsets, one tool for recovering government funds fraudulently obtained under the guise of pandemic relief will cease to exist.

The SIGPR is a fairly recent addition to the government’s arsenal of fraud-fighting weapons. The more traditional tools, those employed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), with the support of private whistleblowers, will continue to be employed to root out fraud related to pandemic relief programs. During the time that SIPGR recovered $187 million, the DOJ recovered over $300 million through the False Claim Act (FCA)-based investigations into pandemic-related fraud.[2] In 2024 alone, the DOJ reported that it had “obtained settlements and judgments, which collectively exceeded more than 250 False Claims Act settlements and judgments which collectively exceeded more than $250 million.”[3]

The FCA allows a person known as a Relator with evidence of fraud to sue on behalf of the government. Once a qui tam complaint is filed, the DOJ then investigates and decides whether to intervene or not. Most recoveries under the FCA stem from qui tam complaints filed by whistleblowers who brought the fraud to the DOJ’s attention.[4]

The FCA remains “the best tool to fight fraud against the government and recover lost taxpayer dollars.”[5] Given the relative success of FCA-based pandemic fraud recoveries (nearly double that of the SIGPR), particularly whistleblower-initiated, the potential elimination of the  SIGPR will afford the DOJ the opportunity to embrace Relator-driven cases to fill any gap in enforcement if/when the SIGPR authority ceases.

[1] https://www.sigpr.gov/sites/sigpr/files/2025-01/19th-SIGPR-Quarterly-Report.pdf

[2] See https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-s-false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-56-billion-fiscal-year; https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-2-billion-fiscal-year-2022; https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-268-billion-fiscal-year-2023; https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-29b-fiscal-year-2024.

[3] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-29b-fiscal-year-2024.

[4] In 2024 the DOJ reported that of the $2.9 billion in settlements and judgments reported in fiscal year 2024, over 2.4 billion arose from complaints filed by whistleblowers. Id.

[5] Chuck Grassley, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/senators-introduce-of-bipartisan-legislation-to-fight-government-waste-fraud