Business declares war on DoD stock buyback ban moving in Senate

Business is declaring war on a provision tucked into a must-pass defense bill that would restrict Pentagon contractors from executing stock buybacks and paying dividends unless they have the Defense Department's approval, and asking Congress to kill the provision before it reaches the president's desk.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with 40 other business groups, sent a letter Tuesday to Senate leaders urging them to strip the measure from the bill — an annual defense policy package called the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate is due to begin considering the measure this week.

The provision, known as Section 815, would amount to an unprecedented incursion from the government into tens of thousands of companies that do business with the Pentagon, the groups wrote. It would also apply broadly, making no explicit distinction between a prime defense contractor manufacturing missiles and a food vendor.