FTC doubles down on non-compete laws after Texas defeat

The Federal Trade Commission argued that its prohibition on competition stems from its authority to take “preemptive action” in addition to its role as an anticompetitive enforcer.

An agency stripped of such authority would be “contrary to the purpose of the FTC Act, which is to prevent unfair methods of competition,” FTC Counsel Rachael Westmoreland said during a Wednesday hearing before Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The hearing was the first opportunity for the FTC to present its case since a Texas judge partially blocked a noncompete agreement…