Michael Granston was quoted in a Report on Medicare Compliance article about federal enforcement trends shaping 2026, including shifting Department of Justice priorities, workforce attrition, and renewed focus on False Claims Act cases.
Michael noted that DOJ’s civil fraud section and U.S. attorneys’ offices have experienced significant staff attrition since early 2025, which may limit the government’s ability to simultaneously pursue both new administration priorities and traditional health care fraud cases.
Michael said, “Resources are a wild card in terms of the scope of DOJ FCA efforts moving forward.” Both DOJ’s civil fraud section and U.S. attorneys’ offices have “suffered from some attrition since January last year,” when Trump 2.0 kicked off. Staff at the civil division, for example, is down more than 25%, and other DOJ components have been hit harder, he said. While Michael doubts the attrition will block pursuit of administration priorities, traditional health fraud enforcement targets may be affected. “They won’t be able to do it all.”
“DOJ has said they view the FCA as a tool to enforce various administration priorities even outside the health care realm.” The FCA working group has named its six targets, “and most of these areas are not new to FCA enforcement,” Michael added.
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