Excerpt from Senate Report #99-345:

Subsection (c)(3) of section 3730 clarifies that the Government once it intervenes and takes over a false claim suit brought by a private individual, may elect to pursue any alternate remedy for recovery of the false claim which might be available under the administrative process. The Department of Health and Human Services is currently authorized to use administrative proceedings for the recovery of some false claims. Earlier in this Congress, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee favorably reported S. 1134, the Program Fraud Civil Penalties Act, which would extend this type of administrative mechanism for addressing false claims to all Executive agencies.

The Committee intends that if civil monetary penalty proceedings are available, the Government may elect to pursue the claim either judicially or through an administrative civil penalty proceeding.

• In the event that the Government chooses to proceed administratively, the qui tam relator retains all the same rights
  1. to copies of filings and depositions,
  2. to objections of settlements or dismissals,
  3. to taking over the action if the Government fails to proceed with "reasonable diligence",
  4. as well as to receiving a portion of any recovery.

• If the Government proceeds administratively,
  1. the district court shall stay the civil action pending the administrative proceeding and
  2. any petitions by the relator, in order to exercise his rights, will be to the district court.

In other words,
• the Government must elect to pursue the false claims action either judicially or administratively and
• if the Government declines to intervene in a qui tam action, it is estopped from pursuing the same action administratively or in a separate judicial action.