US Chamber Says Noncompete Ban Fails Test of Agency Authority

The US Chamber of Commerce said the Federal Trade Commission’s noncompete ban is invalid because it fails the “Major Questions” doctrine, the test that says regulators must get clear authorization from Congress when enforcing rules with significant economic import.

The nation’s largest business lobby late Wednesday cited the doctrine as part of a blitz by corporations and industry groups against the antitrust agency’s new regulation. The rule, adopted in April, bans virtually all noncompete provisions that preclude employees from making job moves in a specific industry for a certain period of time.

The FTC has received no explicit authority from ...