< 25 Top Pension Power Players

A longtime socialist congressman from Vermont, Bernie Sanders catapulted to national fame with his 2016 bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate. He garnered support in the Rust Belt states, which defied their traditional patterns to provide the swing votes that put Donald Trump in power. Sanders’ strength among these Trump backers makes him the most important voice in the populist opposition to the GOP in the Senate, which he joined in 2007. Though Sanders caucuses with the Democrats, his socialist views have often put him at odds with the party’s mainstream — as he was in 2015, when he introduced a bill to reverse the effects of the 2014 Kline–Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act, which is set to result in deep pension cuts for retirees and workers in struggling multiemployer corporate pension plans. Sanders, 75, is expected to reintroduce that legislation. In the 2017–’18 Congress, he will be the ranking member of the powerful Senate Committee on the Budget, where the Pension Guaranty Benefit Corp. is likely to be on the chopping block. — Michelle Celarier

 
The 2017 Pension Political Power 25

1. Andy Puzder Secretary of Labor 2. Bruce Rauner Governor of Illinois 3. Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education Sponsored How Fed Policy Can Impact Corporate Bond Spreads Sponsored by CME Group October 20, 2025 4. Laura & John Arnold Founders, Laura and John Arnold Foundation 5. Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury

6. Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce 7. Tani Cantil-Sakauye California Chief Justice 8. Paul Ryan Speaker of the House 9. Anthony Scaramucci Founder, SkyBridge Capital 10. Kevin de León California State Senator and President Pro Tempore

11. Mike Enzi Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security 12. Steve Sweeney President, New Jersey State Senate 13. Jerry Brown Governor of California 14. Corey Lewandowski Co-founder, Avenue Strategies 15. Paul Singer President, Elliott Management Corp.

16. Randel Johnson Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 17. Joe Manchin U.S. Senator 18. Kenneth Feinberg Founder and managingpartner, Feinberg Rozen 19. Scott Walker Governor of Wisconsin 20. Richard Trumka President, AFL-CIO

21. Mike Rawlings Mayor of Dallas 22. Elizabeth Warren U.S. Senator 23. Kent Mason Partner, Davis & Harman 24. Bernie Sanders U.S. Senator 25. Randi Weingarten President, American Federation of Teachers