< 25 Top Pension Power Players

Last November, New Jersey achieved a dubious honor when it surpassed Illinois and Kentucky to claim the most underfunded pension system in the U.S. The Garden State has $135.7 billion less than it needs to cover its pension promises, and fixing the funding gap has been an ongoing political challenge. As the powerful president of the State Senate, Steve Sweeney, 57, is on the front line of the state’s bloody pension battles. He was the driving force behind a law passed in December that requires New Jersey to make quarterly rather than annual payments to its pension system. Governor Chris Christie vetoed two previous iterations of the bill — calling it an improper and unwarranted intrusion in 2014 — but conceded after a revision shifted borrowing costs associated with those payments to the pension fund. Pension politics will loom large in New Jersey’s upcoming state elections, slated for November. Though Sweeney has opted not to run for governor, he will be an important power behind whoever inherits the throne from an embattled, term-limited Christie. — Jess Delaney

 
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 As U.S. Stocks Hit Records, Do Mexican Equities Offer Diversification Opportunities? Sponsored by CME Group October 13, 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