The Lina Khan-led Federal Trade Commission is making one final attempt to secure a ban on worker noncompete agreements just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, which is expected to usher in new FTC leadership.
According to a Jan. 3 report by Bloomberg Law, the Department of Justice, representing the FTC, filed a brief Jan. 2 with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals urging the court to overturn an August 2024 ruling that prevented a near-total ban on worker noncompete agreements from going into effect. The FTC initially appealed the decision in October 2024.
The Department of Justice is also litigating a preliminary Florida court decision in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that said the FTC lacked clear congressional authorization to ban noncompetes under the Supreme Court's "major questions doctrine," according to Bloomberg.