Business Roundtable

In 2024, the Business Roundtable ranked as the ninth-largest lobbying spender, with $23.4 million spent on lobbying activities at the federal level. In 2025, it spent $33.5 million on lobbying activities. ³ The organization supports broadly pro-business policies, including streamlined business regulations, immigration liberalization, increased infrastructure spending, environmentalist energy subsidies, free trade, and corporate tax reductions. ^{4 5 6 7 8}

The Business Roundtable’s lobbying and political contributions go primarily toward Republican candidates and causes, though in most election cycles, Democrats receive a sizeable minority of donations as well. ⁹ In 2019, the Business Roundtable released a statement purporting to redefine the purpose of a corporation from primarily serving shareholders to primarily serving customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and society as a whole. ¹⁰

History

The Business Roundtable was formed in 1972 by the merger of two lobbying groups: the Construction Users’ Anti-Inflation Roundtable and the Labor Law Study Committee. In the following year, the March Group, co-founded by the then-chairman of Alcoa and the then-CEO of General Electric, merged with the Business Roundtable. ¹¹

The organization’s early objective was to organize major business leaders to support free-market policies. ¹¹ In 1975, Business Roundtable successfully lobbied against an antitrust bill, and then in 1977, it defeated a campaign for the early formation of a Consumer Protection Agency led by Ralph Nader. ¹² That same year, Business Roundtable rallied Senate Republicans to oppose a pro-union bill supported by the AFL-CIO. ¹²

The Business Roundtable’s influence reached its height during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. It lobbied for lower taxes, deregulation, and the opening of foreign markets to American trade. The Business Roundtable spearheaded lobbying for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). President Ronald Reagan spoke at the Business Roundtable’s annual dinner in 1988. ¹²

Since the mid-1990s, the Business Roundtable’s major policy goals have shifted away from free-market advocacy and towards broader pro-corporate government policies. In 2010, the Washington Post called the Business Roundtable President Barack Obama’s “closest ally in the business community.” Though the organization opposed many of the administration’s tax and health care efforts, Business Roundtable supported many of President Obama’s economic policies, including environmentalist energy subsidies, financial reforms to support mortgage lending, laxer immigration restrictions, and federally funded job-training programs.  ¹³¹²

Policy Positions

Education

Business Roundtable supports increased government expenditure on education. In particular, it promotes more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in grades K-12, an emphasis on vocational education for student loans and grants, and government-funded job training and retraining for college graduates. ¹⁴

The Business Roundtable advocates the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), stating its member CEOs support employer-organized training programs and apprenticeships. ⁷ In June 2024, Business Roundtable vice president Donald McIntosh wrote a letter to U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee party leaders Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in support of the WIOA. The letter argued that the workforce lacked sufficient skilled workers that met the needs of employers, advocating for increasing WIOA funding to pay for career training programs. ¹⁵

Following the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Business Roundtable announced support for the provisions that funded Workforce Pell Grants. It supported the use of taxpayer funding, arguing that it will help businesses fill skilled positions. ⁷ In August 2025, McIntosh wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon that opposed any Workforce Pell Grant regulations that would impose additional requirements or limit eligibility. It also advocated a streamlined process for multi-state approval of participating programs, instead of requiring programs to apply for each state in which it seeks to offer a program, and it advocated for WIOA approvals to be eligible under applicable Workforce Pell Grant approval processes. ¹⁶

Energy and Environment

Business Roundtable supports increased environmental regulations and subsidies to encourage environmentally friendly policies in businesses. These include direct subsidies and government-provided incentives for investment in environmentalist energy. However, Business Roundtable supports primarily private initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. ¹⁷

In March 2026,the  Business Roundtable published a policy paper that advocated that Congress and federal agencies support streamlined permitting processes for data center developments and for subsidizing energy projects to support investments in artificial intelligence (AI). ⁶ The policy paper argued that the cost of electricity and availability of water can prohibit the viability of developing AI data centers, particularly since data centers can increase electricity production costs. ¹⁸

In response to prohibitive electricity costs and availability, the Business Roundtable’s policy paper advocated for an “‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy” that would maximize the use of existing domestic electricity sources and subsidize electrical grid developments. It only named fusion nuclear energy, modular reactor nuclear, geothermal, and hydrogen energy technologies as the energy production types it supported, and it expected conventional energy sources to be phased out. It advocated for tax deductions for electric service providers and federal funding specific to energy research and development used to provide power to AI data centers. In addition to subsidizing energy production, it advocated for reducing permitting requirements for energy projects. ⁶

In November 2025, the Business Roundtable published a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after it requested comments on its proposed reconsideration of its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). The Business Roundtable wrote that it has maintained a concern of alleged risks from climate change and that its member companies are engaging in emission reduction activities as a result. The letter expressed gratitude for the second Trump administration’s EPA addressing potentially “burdensome regulations,” but it argued that changes to the existing program would disrupt existing processes and create uncertainty that would outweigh the benefits of changing the program. It also advised against making changes because it claimed that recipients of the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture programs, as well as recipients of tax credit for environmentalist energy programs, would risk losing their return on investment if data reporting changed. ⁵

Health

Business Roundtable supports private innovations and initiatives to reduce health care costs. Large corporations in particular are encouraged to create “wellness programs” to increase employee wellbeing and reduce health care needs. ¹⁹

Immigration

Business Roundtable supports increased immigration for its economic benefits. It supports the “Dream Act,” which would provide legal status and a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants, and argues for a streamlined immigration process, especially for high-skilled labor. ²⁰

In May 2025, the Business Roundtable announced support for the U.S. House budget reconciliation bill, expressing support for its border security provisions. The announcement also added that it expressed support for the debt ceiling being raised, arguing that it was necessary. ²¹

Infrastructure

Business Roundtable supports increased government spending on infrastructure, particularly highways and canals. In 2015, the organization published “Road to Growth: The Case for Investing in America’s Infrastructure,” a report on the negative economic effects of current infrastructure spending levels. ²²

In May 2026, the Business Roundtable announced support for the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America’s 250th (BUILD America 250) Act, expressing support for the infrastructure subsidies. ²³ As of May 2026, the BUILD America 250 Act included $474 billion in subsidies primarily supporting road, bridge, transit, railway, and highway construction. ²⁴

Tax and Fiscal Policy

Business Roundtable supports a corporate tax policy that maintains competitiveness with foreign markets. It argues that foreign corporate taxes are set to decline in the coming decade, and U.S. taxes should keep pace. ²⁵

The Business Roundtable advocates lower tax rates and against double-taxation, particularly by foreign governments on American companies. It was a supporter of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for its domestic and international tax provisions, arguing that it will increase trade. ⁴

International Trade

Business Roundtable supports lowering trade barriers and tariffs. It endorsed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). However, Business Roundtable supports tougher trade regulations and restrictions on China to oppose what it sees as unfair trade practices. ²⁶

The Business Roundtable advocates for Section 232 investigations to consider the impact on supply chains, opposing restrictions on trade for national security and economic purposes. It argues that restricting trade can cause shortages that impact the United States’ self-reliance and ability to promote national security interests. It also argues that tariffs have severe consequences on the economy by increasing prices on goods sold in America, throughout the supply chain, and consequently, making goods unaffordable for businesses. ^{27 28 8}

Corporate Governance

Following the Business Roundtable changing its principles regarding the “Purpose of a Corporation” in 2019, it began to advocate for companies to be scrutinized by shareholders and the market for the ethnic and gender diversity of board members, and to be scrutinized for their compliance with “shareholder activism.” ^{29 30}

Additionally, the Business Roundtable advocates for eliminating regulations that require publicly traded companies to report quarterly and annual earnings and estimates, as it claims such reporting prioritizes short-term performance over long-term goals. It also advocates for repealing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that restrict hiring, as it argues there is no “social benefit.” ³¹

Redefining the Purpose of a Corporation

In 2019, Business Roundtable issued a statement purporting to redefine the purpose of a corporation from serving shareholders to serving so-called “stakeholders,” including employees, suppliers, customers, local communities, and the general American economy. ³²

The redefinition has been criticized by pundits on both sides of the ideological spectrum. Left-of-center critics like UC Berkeley professor and Clinton administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich claim that corporate members of Business Roundtable are using the redefinition as a public relations maneuver to distract from unpopular employment policies, especially companies like Amazon and Apple which are often accused of mistreating employees. ³³ Right-of-center critics like economist George Shultz claim that the redefinition misunderstands the fundamental mechanisms of free market-economies, and that deprioritizing shareholders will lower productivity and ultimately harm all stakeholders. ³⁴

Political and Advocacy Expenditures

Lobbying

As of May 2026, the Business Roundtable has spent over $454 million on lobbying since 1998. ³⁵ In 2025, it paid 101 lobbyists a total of $33.5 million. ³⁶ The Business Roundtable’s top issues it lobbied for included taxes, trade, federal budget, science and technology, and energy and nuclear power. ³⁷

In 2019, Business Roundtable’s primary lobbying focus was on international trade,³⁸ particularly the USMCA,³⁹ followed by government issues, immigration, taxes, transportation, and education. ³⁸

Individual Campaign Contributions

Since 1992, the Business Roundtable and people who list it as their employer on federal disclosures have spent $567,048 on federal political contributions. Between 1992 and 2024, individuals listed under the Business Roundtable gave 89.1 percent to Republican candidates and campaigns. In 2024, individuals from the Business Roundtable spent $79,632 on Republican campaigns and $11,050 on Democratic campaigns. ⁴⁰

The largest single federally reportable recipient of the Business Roundtable’s contributions has been the National Republican Senatorial Committee as of May 2026. ⁴¹

Other Funding

According to a November 2025 report by NOTUS, 2024 990 tax forms show during that year, Business Roundtable contributed roughly $2.6 million in grants to several organizations that opposed President Trump’s proposed policies on taxes, immigration, tariffs, energy, and trade. These include $50,000 to Third Way, $150,000 to the American Action Forum (AAF), $30,000 to the ModSquad Foundation, $15,000 to the National Immigration Forum (NIF), $15,000 to the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), $50,000 to the Climate Solutions Foundation, and $50,000 to the Conservative Climate Foundation. ⁴²

Leadership

Joshua Bolten was working as the CEO of the Business Roundtable as of May 2026. He previously served the George W. Bush administration as White House Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2008, Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2003 to 2006, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy from 2001 to 2003. Bolten began as President George W. Bush’s campaign policy director. He has also worked at Goldman Sachs and O’Melveny & Myers. ⁴³

As of May 2026, Kristen Silverberg was president and COO of the Business Roundtable. Previously, she was the managing director for the Institute of International Finance and served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union from 2008 to 2009 and as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 2005 to 2008 in the George W. Bush administration. She has also practiced law at Williams and Connolly, LLP, and served as a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. ⁴⁴

Financials

In 2024, the Business Roundtable paid its CEO Joshua Bolten $4.4 million in salary and compensation, and it paid its president and COO, Kristen Silverberg, $2.4 million in salary and compensation. ⁴⁵

In 2024, the Business Roundtable paid 58 independent contractors over $100,000 in compensation. Top payments included $1.7 million to Inkling LLC for consulting and professional services, $1.2 million to DCI Group AZ for consulting and professional services, and $840,000 to the Fratelli Group for consulting or professional services. ⁴⁶