< 25 Top Pension Power Players

3. Betsy DeVos
Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s 59-year-old pick to head the Department of Education, is an advocate of charter schools. These alternatives to public schools are allowed to use teachers not represented by unions — teachers who won job security and comprehensive benefit plans, including guaranteed pensions, through their union membership. DeVos’s husband is Dick DeVos, former president and CEO of multilevel-marketing giant Amway Corp.; her Michigan-based family has donated millions to charter schools, and if she’s confirmed for the Education post, expect her advocacy and clout to shrink union power and whittle away at teachers’ retirement plans. The DeVos family has a history of backing similar causes. Every year it hosts the West Michigan Policy Forum, which has decided to fight to restructure government pensions and benefits in 2017. — Julie Segal
The 2017 Pension Political Power 25
![]() Secretary of Labor ![]() Governor of Illinois ![]() Secretary of Education ![]() Founders, Laura and John Arnold Foundation ![]() Secretary of the Treasury |
![]() Secretary of Commerce ![]() California Chief Justice ![]() Speaker of the House ![]() Founder, SkyBridge Capital ![]() California State Senator and President Pro Tempore |
![]() Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security ![]() President, New Jersey State Senate ![]() Governor of California ![]() Co-founder, Avenue Strategies ![]() President, Elliott Management Corp. |
![]() Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() Founder and managingpartner, Feinberg Rozen ![]() Governor of Wisconsin ![]() President, AFL-CIO |
![]() Mayor of Dallas ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() Partner, Davis & Harman ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() President, American Federation of Teachers |
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