Speaker of the House Paul Ryan made his reputation as a deficit hawk. Any attempt to get pension legislation through Congress will be dead in the water without his backing. Given the Republican representative’s willingness to take the ax to veterans’ and federal employees’ pensions in recent years, more of the same is likely in store for the rest of the nation’s workers. The first test will be the position Ryan, 46, takes on a Donald Trump–backed Senate bill to restore pension benefits to thousands of coal miners, who overwhelmingly voted for Trump in states like Kentucky and West Virginia. So far, House Republicans have resisted efforts to shore up the miners’ pensions, which face insolvency. As chairman of the House Budget Committee in the early years of the Obama administration, Ryan headed a controversial bipartisan effort to slash $6 billion from military pensions. — Michelle Celarier
 1. Andy Puzder Secretary of Labor  2. Bruce Rauner Governor of Illinois  3. Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education  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 |