On December 12, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit heard arguments in U. S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, 1 a case which squarely presents the question of the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act( FCA). 2 United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas brought new attention to

the question in his 2023 dissent in U. S. ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, 3 and in 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida became the first judge in the country to hold the provisions unconstitutional. 4

Judge Mizelle held that the provisions violate the Appointments

regardless of how the eleventh circuit decides the pending zafirov appeal, a petition for certiorari to the united States Supreme court is likely to follow.

Clause because they improperly vest executive power in private litigants. She reasoned that Article II requires that“ Officers of the United States” be appointed by“ The President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.” 5 The judge determined that

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