FTC ban on worker noncompete agreements blocked by federal judge
(WASHINGTON) — A sweeping federal ban on noncompete agreements — which was set to take effect for tens of millions of Americans nationwide on Sept. 4 — is now permanently on hold.
In a ruling Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas upheld a challenge to the FTC’s rule banning noncompetes, saying the government agency lacks the authority to put the ban in place.
An estimated 30 million Americans — 1 out of every 5 workers — are employed with noncompete agreements in industries ranging from tech to fast food. The FTC argues the agreements stifle workers’ ability to switch jobs and earn higher wages.
The FTC rule would have meant that anyone applying for a new job could not be forced to sign a noncompete. For workers with existing agreements, noncompetes would no longer be enforceable.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Ada Brown means those changes are effectively blocked.
In a statement to ABC News, FTC spokesperson Victoria Graham said the agency is “seriously considering a potential appeal” of the decision.
“We are disappointed by Judge Brown’s decision and will keep fighting to stop noncompetes that restrict the economic liberty of hardworking Americans, hamper economic growth, limit innovation, and depress wages,” Graham said.
The lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce along with a Texas tax firm, which argued that the rule was too broad and that the FTC overstepped its authority.
“This decision is a significant win in the Chamber’s fight against government micromanagement of business decisions. A sweeping prohibition of noncompete agreements by the FTC was an unlawful extension of power that would have put American workers, businesses, and our economy at a competitive disadvantage,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark said in a statement.
(DETROIT) — Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota will blitz the country on Labor Day, the Harris campaign said, as they make a concerted effort to court union workers ahead of the election.
Harris will kick off Labor Day in Detroit, Michigan, meeting with union members and delivering brief remarks, the campaign said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Rep. Debbie Dingell will join Harris, the campaign said.
Labor groups and leaders, including UAW President Shawn Fain, AFT President Randi Weingarten, Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, Building Trades, IATSE and the SEIU, will also join, the campaign added.
Harris will then join Biden in Pittsburgh at a union hall for the pair’s first joint campaign event since Biden dropped his bid for reelection. They will both deliver informal remarks, the Harris campaign said. The United Steelworkers, AFSCME, and other unions will be in attendance, as well as Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey, Mayor Ed Gainey and Reps. Summer Lee, Madeleine Dean and Chris Deluzio.
Walz and his wife, Gwen, will start off the day meeting with laborers in St. Paul, Minnesota, before attending Laborfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to prominent labor groups, including SEIU, Teamsters, and United Autoworkers, Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Gwen Moore and Mayor Cavalier Johnson will be there, the campaign said.
Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff will be in Newport News, Virginia, to participate in Rep. Bobby Scott’s annual Labor Day Cookout to deliver remarks, the campaign said.
“Vice President Harris always put workers first and held powerful interests accountable. As California’s attorney general, she fought wage theft to make sure workers got the pay they earned. As senator, she fought tirelessly for the most vulnerable workers, walking the picket line with UAW and McDonald’s workers and introducing a domestic workers’ bill of rights,” the campaign said in a statement.
“Vice President Harris chairs The White House Task Force on Worker Organizing, which made it easier for working people to exercise their right to join a union,” the campaign continued.
“Meanwhile, Trump was one of the most anti-worker and anti-union presidents in history,” the Harris campaign later added, criticizing former President Donald Trump. “He stacked the National Labor Relations Board with anti-labor advocates. He hurt autoworkers, shipped jobs overseas, and lined the pockets of the super wealthy and big corporations at the expense of the middle class.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism centered on her race from some Republican figures as she becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid.
On Sunday, Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis, told CBS-58 in Wisconsin that he believes “a lot of Democrats feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.”
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., accused Harris of being a “DEI hire” in a CNN interview on Monday and claimed that Biden wanted to pick a Black woman as a vice president: “When you go down that route, you take mediocrity.”
DEI — which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion — refers to the initiatives and programs intended to address discrimination against historically marginalized groups within schools, businesses or government agencies, according to industry experts.
In a 2020 debate, Biden stated that he would “pick a woman to be vice president,” not declaring a specific race. In a later interview with ABC News that August, Biden added that he “didn’t feel pressure to select a Black woman.”
“The government should look like the people, look like the country,” said Biden in the interview. “Fifty-one percent of the people in this country are women. As that old expression goes, ‘women hold up half the sky,’ and in order to be able to succeed, you’ve got to be dealt in across the board.”
In another 2020 interview, with MSNBC, when asked about who his potential running mate might be, Biden said, “I am not committed to naming any [of the potential candidates] but the people I’ve named, and among them there are four Black women.”
DEI has been increasingly used as the basis for criticizing or questioning the qualifications of women, people of color, people in the LGBTQ community, and other marginalized groups in positions of authority.
These initiatives have been the target of conservative legislation nationwide, with lawmakers claiming they promote racial division and unfair advantages for marginalized groups. Those in favor of DEI initiatives say these programs aim to remedy longstanding forms of inequality, such as pay inequity, inaccessibility in the workplace, discrimination in hiring practices, and more.
Harris, who is currently the vice president, was a U.S. senator for four years, California’s attorney general for six years, San Francisco’s district attorney for about seven years, and got her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
In an interview on NBC News Now, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the DEI attacks on Harris are “stupid and dumb.”
“I disagree with DEI, but she’s the vice president of the United States,” said McCarthy. “These congressmen that are saying it, they’re wrong in their own instincts.”
Since joining the race, Harris has garnered support from Democratic legislators, advocacy groups and others across the country.
Her campaign has raised $100 million since entering the race for president on Sunday, according to her campaign. About 58,000 people also signed up to volunteer for the vice president’s campaign, a figure that is more than 100 times its average daily signup rate, according to the campaign.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2024 election, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Tuesday night.
Harris was the only candidate to qualify for the Democratic party’s presidential nominating ballot, the party said.
Across the country, 3,923 delegates petitioned to make Harris the Democratic nominee, according to the DNC, which noted Harris secured the support of 99% of participating delegates.
The virtual roll call to make Harris the official Democratic nominee will begin Thursday, Aug. 1, and will end on Monday, Aug. 5.
The news of her presumed nomination comes after Harris took the stage at her Atlanta rally on Tuesday, marking her 15th trip to Georgia since taking office and her first trip to the battleground state since launching her own presidential bid.
“The path to the White House runs right through this state,” Harris said of Georgia, adding, “You all helped us win in 2020, and we’re going to do it again in 2024.”
Harris called out former President Donald Trump for refusing to honor his commitment to the upcoming presidential debate, which ABC News will host in September.
“Well, Donald,” she said with a smirk as the crowd of more than 10,000 erupted in applause and cheers.
“I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say … say it to my face,” Harris said pointing to her face, with a huge grin.
Harris addressed topics from immigration policy, where she vowed to pass a bipartisan immigration bill if elected, to strengthening the middle class and lowering the costs of essential items.
“On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs,” Harris said. “We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits. We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases. And we will take on big pharma to cap prescription drug costs for all Americans.”
Harris was joined by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, former Rep. Stacey Abrams, and several other special guests, including Migos rapper Quavo and a graduate of Morehouse College, a historically Black university.
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion performed at the Atlanta rally, getting the crowd energized with a performance of her hit song “Savage” and praising Harris as the would-be first Black, female president.
On a call with reporters ahead of her trip, Harris’ campaign said Georgia, a formerly red state that voted blue in the last presidential election, is still “in play.”
“The vice president is energizing and mobilizing our base,” said Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s battleground states director. “Having a candidate who can mobilize our key Biden-Harris coalition, talking about the issues that resonate with Georgians … make that state in play.”
Since President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that he was leaving the 2024 race, Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
The trip to Georgia comes as the campaign reported raising $200 million in less than a week since Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. The campaign is also boasting 170,000 new volunteers who have signed up to back Harris. This past weekend to commemorate the 100-day mark from November’s election, the campaign hosted 2,300 events across the battleground states with more than 29,000 volunteers participating.
Harris’ remarks at the rally followed a meeting with local reproductive rights leaders and activists.
Georgia played a crucial role in Biden’s 2020 victory, going blue for the first time since 1992 due, in significant part, to organizing efforts from Abrams, who spent years spearheading get-out-the-vote efforts in Black communities. Harris’ campaign will be looking to replicate success in Georgia by shoring up support among Black voters, a key group of voters that both Harris and Trump will work to connect with as the November election approaches.
Biden only won the state by some 12,000 votes in 2020, a win heavily contested by Trump, who is currently in the midst of an election interference case in the state. Trump hasn’t held a campaign event in Georgia since his debate with Biden in June.
Kanninen said that although the Harris campaign has achieved an impressive fundraising haul in a short amount of time, they are not getting “comfortable.”
“I continue to be very clear with our partners and with our own staff. This campaign will not get comfortable. We jumped in with just 100 days ago against an opponent who has shown he’s willing to do anything to win,” said Kannien. “This is going to be an incredibly close race just like it was in 2020. But just like four years ago, we are going to win this thing.”
The Harris campaign told reporters they expect the state to be just as “competitive” this election, claiming that their infrastructure in the state gives them an advantage.
“We expect it to be as close as competitive this year,” said Communications Director Michael Tyler. “That’s why we have the team and the operation in place to make sure that we can turn out every single Harris voter in the state of Georgia.”
According to the campaign, they have more than 170 coordinated staff and 24 offices across the state with three of those opening this past weekend. The Trump campaign only recently opened its first campaign office in the state in June.
“We’re making these investments across the entire map because the data is clear. We have multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes,” said Kanninen. “The vice president is strong in both the blue wall and in the Sun Belt and we are running hard in both.”