FTC Noncompete Proposal Breathes New Life Into Lawmaker Efforts

The Federal Trade Commission’s recent proposal to ban noncompetition agreements likely changes the calculus for lawmakers hoping to legislate on the issue in Congress, with some seeking to put a similar but more permanent policy in place.

Earlier this month, the FTC proposed to eliminate nearly all future worker noncompetes and rescind those already in place. The agency is likely to face a long legal fight over its authority to make such a sweeping rule, leaving Congress the decision of whether to wait and see or be proactive, a former FTC chairman said.

“One reaction of Congress could be ‘We ...