The federal government paid more than $3 billion last year to resolve lawsuits, almost twice as much as it did the year before, according to an analysis by The National Law Journal of hundreds of payment records.
The departments of Energy, Interior and Health and Human Services accounted for the largest share of expenditures. Those agencies spent a combined $2.35 billion to settle a series of long-running disputes that included government contracts litigation over health care programs run by Indian tribes. [See Chart.]
