WASHINGTON _ Family connections can help when you're applying for a new job _ especially in Washington, D.C.
Just ask President Donald Trump's latest executive branch nominee, whose sister-in-law is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who's married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Trump announced this week that tech entrepreneur Gordon Hartogensis, 47, is his pick to lead the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) at the Department of Labor, which insures private-sector pension plans for retired Americans.
The PBGC covers the pension plans of nearly 40 million retired Americans should those plans tank and retirees stop receiving benefits. In 2017, the PBGC provided monthly paychecks to roughly 900,000 people.
From his resume, it is unclear what retirement fund experience Hartogensis, a 1992 Stanford University graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science who has worked as a technology logistics executive since 1993, brings to the agency _ beyond managing his family's trust since 2011.
But the administration is banking on Hartogensis' "business skills" to "put the PBGC back on a firm financial footing" and recalibrate its balance sheet, the White House press office said in an email.
The agency's deficit has doubled since 2013.
In its nomination announcement this week, the White House touted Hartogensis' credentials as "an investor and technology sector leader with experience managing financial equities, bonds, private placements, and software development."
Hartogensis did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment left on his cellphone Tuesday.
Kendra Stewart, vice president of the American Society for Public Administration, a group that pushes for responsible public administration, suggested that Hartogensis' family connections were stronger than his other qualifications.
"In general, a large number of presidential nominations at this level tend to come with either more direct related experience from the private sector or with a fair amount of federal government experience. It doesn't appear that Mr. Hartogensis has either," she said.
"What he does seem to have is good political connections with someone who matters _ the majority leader," she said.
Hartogensis has donated $50,000 to the Kentucky GOP since 2007, including the maximum $10,000 each year during McConnell's re-election cycles in 2007-08 and 2013-14, according to his OpenSecrets.org donor profile.
He also maxed out his contributions to McConnell's primary and general election campaigns in 2008 and 2014 _ $9,600 total.
Trump could be tapping a relative of McConnell, arguably Washington's most influential lawmaker, for a cushy administrative post to curry favor with the majority leader ahead of a busy docket of higher-profile nominations and pending legislation such as farm bill reauthorization, fiscal year 2019 appropriations, and a sweeping infrastructure package, Stewart indicated.
"If President Trump is committed to passing more of his legislative agenda beyond tax reform then he is in need of the support of Republican leadership in Congress. This could be a good step in that direction," she said of Hartogensis' nomination.
Chao's Transportation Department and McConnell's office referred inquiries about Hartogensis' nomination to the White House.
The director's salary at Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is $174,500.
The current director, Thomas Reeder, was the benefits tax counsel in the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy from 2005 to 2009. He later joined the Office Chief Counsel at the IRS as an executive.
Hartogensis must pass through the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions before the Senate votes to confirm him.
Trump proved in the early days of his presidency he is not averse to choosing unorthodox nominees to lead entire cabinet departments.
Ben Carson, the president's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was a neurosurgeon and political commentator with no experience in the real estate or development sectors before he was pegged for the job.
And Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had no prior experience in the public education realm _ as a student, parent or administrator _ before taking command of the department charged with running the American public school system.
Hartogensis' nomination might seem like, in the president's words, "small potatoes" compared to those higher-level posts.
"I think this appointment raises the question _ is this good old fashioned political patronage?" Stewart said. "Or is this the president attempting to deliver on his promise of draining the swamp by appointing people outside the system?"
