Susan Walsh/AP photo POLITICO MONEY PODCAST This mystery man must solve a giant pension crisis

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Gordon Hartogensis may soon be in charge of a big government agency facing down a $54 billion pension crisis. But nobody has ever heard of him and he has little experience in the field.


He is, however, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s brother-in-law. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is his sister-in-law.

In the latest POLITICO Money podcast, POLITICO’s Ian Kullgren discusses his new piece looking into Hartogensis, a little-known and retired multi-millionaire, and how he came to be the Trump administration‘s nominee to head the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

If confirmed by the end of the year, as widely expected, Hartogensis, who spends most of his time now managing his family’s money, will be charged with managing a troubled agency responsible for back-stopping retirees whose pension plans have become insolvent. It’s an important and politically challenging job that will require Hartogensis to work with Congress on a potential bailout plan to address a shortfall of tens of billions of dollars in the PBGC’s cash reserves.

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His connections to McConnell may help. But experts in the field and some Democrats wonder whether a politically connected novice will really have the skills to fix the agency’s problems. And Hartogensis’s cousin told Kullgren that while he’s proud of his relative, he also believes that Hartogensis is going to work for a “band of criminals.“