In The Irishman, during the testimonial dinner for Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro), Joe Pesci's character, Russell Bufalino tells Sheeran that the higher ups have decided that Al Pacino's Jimmy Hoffa can't run the Teamsters anymore.
Bufalino says something to the effect of "if they can kill a president, they can kill the president of a union."
Who are the higher ups that Russ Bufalino mentions?