Lina Khan—FTC's noncompete ban struck down by federal court as illegal overreach beyond statutory authority
In April 2024, the FTC issued a landmark regulation banning enforcement of non-compete agreements. In August 2024, a federal court struck down the regulation, ruling it was an overreach of statutory authority and that the regulation was 'arbitrary and capricious.' The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable sued, arguing 'the FTC exceeded its administrative authority' and that such economic significance should be decided by Congress, not an agency.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government Ethics & Anti-Corruption | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.221 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Federal court struck down FTC noncompete ban as arbitrary and capricious
In August 2024, a federal court ruled the FTC's noncompete ban exceeded statutory authority and was 'arbitrary and capricious.' The U.S. Chamber of Commerce successfully argued the FTC overstepped administrative authority on a matter of 'sheer economic and political significance' that should be decided by Congress.