The 50 Most Powerful People in Washington*
- People with the last names Obama and Biden not included.
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1/514. Leon Panetta
Secretary of Defense
The Washington wise man who the past two Democratic presidents have tasked with their toughest assignments. First, Bill Clinton plucked Panetta from his cushy congressional seat to write the federal budget and then bring order to a chaotic White House. Next, Obama lured him out of semi-retirement on his California walnut farm to run the CIA. After Osama bin Laden was killed, Obama made Panetta his Secretary of Defense. Next up, an even bigger challenge: transforming the military for the post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan generation (and slicing the budget in the process).
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2/512. Mitch McConnell
Kentucky Senator, Senate Minority Leader
D.C. right now is all about the Politics of "No"—and even Cantor has to go through this guy eventually.
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3/511. Eric Cantor
Virginia Representative, House Majority Leader
The Republican whom Democrats—especially Obama—hate most. The Virginia Congressman masterminded, and then masterfully carried out, the GOP's strategy of legislative intransigence that has stymied the White House these past three years. In the process, he imposed his will on all of Washington, refashioning the city into a hyperpartisan capital of gridlock. And if Obama's a one-term president, it will be Cantor—as much as Newt or Mitt—who'll deserve the credit/blame for knocking him out. "We have people who have great ideas but who can't ecute and we have people who know how to act but aren't steeped in policy," says Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan. "Eric has both of those talents, which is rare." Widely presumed to be the next GOP Speaker of the House, the biggest question for Cantor is does he wait for John Boehner (#12) to step aside, or does he give him a shove?
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4/513. David Plouffe
Senior Advisor to the President
When he showed up as manager of the long-shot Obama campaign in 2007, even die-hard political observers had trouble picking him out of a lineup—or pronouncing his name. Five years on, Plouffe now occupies the office vacated by David Alrod. Laser-focused and lacking in sentimentality, Plouffe is Obama's gut check guy when difficult decisions have to be made, like how far to push Congress on debt negotiations and how sharp a tone to adopt in his public appearances. While he may not officially be the campaign manager for the reelect, you can bet that Plouffe will be directing every big move behind the scenes. And for the record: the name rhymes with "tough."
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5/515. Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
It's hard to imagine a time when Hillary will not be on a list like this—a testament to her resilience in the face of defeat, masterful cultivation of Washington power, and yes, the dexterity she's demonstrated as Secretary of State. In 2011 alone she navigated the Arab Spring, finessed the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, and traveled to nearly 50 countries. Memories of her bruising primary crusade against Obama linger among both of their staffs, but a White House aide told GQ that when it comes to business she's earned the respect of even the most die-hard Obama loyalists. Clinton has said she'll step down after 2012. Don't off-load your "Hillary for President" buttons on eBay just yet.
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6/516. Ben Bernanke
Chairman, Federal Reserve
GOP candidates accuse him of treason, fantasize about how they'd "treat him pretty ugly," and promise to "end the Fed" altogether. But with the White House and Congress locked in a permanent stalemate, Bernanke is the only person in Washington who might actually do something to prevent the Great Recession from turning into another Great Depression. Says one former White House official: "From beard to toe, he's exuded the perfect combination of steady leadership and quaking dread."
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7/517. David Petraeus
Director, CIA
The architect of the surge in Iraq, the top commander in Afghanistan, and champion of our counterinsurgency doctrine, Petraeus retired from the military in August with a 17-gun salute. He didn't go to Boca. The long time Special-Ops enthusiast moved over to run the CIA. Word on the Pentagon City street is that he wanted to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But defense expert Raymond DuBois says the general now realizes that "his power is enhanced when it is ercised with discretion and in the hushed tones of the Oval Office."
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8/519. Peter Rouse
Counselor to the President, the White House
Rouse has been at Obama's side since the day he was sworn in as a Senator, and there's no one the president trusts more to clean up the spills along the way, from sorting out the administration's missteps on Guantanamo to devising a strategy to get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau off the ground. Even as two others have floated in and out of the Chief of Staff title—and the big office that goes with it—insiders know that Rouse has been the West Wing's top manager all along.
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9/518. Kevin McCarthy
California Representative, House Majority Whip
The man who recruited most of the Tea Party freshmen to run for Congress—thus giving the GOP its House majority—McCarthy has the unenviable job of keeping them in line. But he pulls it off—getting two-thirds of them, for instance, to back the debt-ceiling increase—and with the lightest touch: pizza parties and group bike rides rather than policy seminars and pressure sessions. "He's like your favorite fraternity brother," says one senior House Republican aide.
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10/5110. Tom Donohue
_President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce _
During Obama's first two years in office, the White House was at war with the Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business trade organization. Under Donohue's leadership, the Chamber had used its $258 million annual budget to fight Obama on health care, Wall Street reform, and climate change. Obama counterpunched by accusing it of taking money from foreign-owned firms. But last February, he surrendered— "I'm here in the interest of being more neighborly," Obama said in a speech at the Chamber's D.C. offices. Says one Democratic lobbyist, "Donohue won the war."
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11/5111. Tim Geithner
_Treasury Secretary _
Republicans can't stand him. Liberals can't stand him. The American public can't stand him. And yet when Geithner started making noises last summer about leaving Treasury for the private sector, the White House begged him to stay put through the election. Turns out he's got the support of the only person who matters: his boss.
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12/5113. Karl Rove, Steven Law, Ed Gillespie
American Crossroads Crossroads GPS
In 2010, when the Supreme Court declared open season for corporate political spending, this trio created the expenditure groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS and then raised more than $70 million to help deliver the House back to the GOP. Now for the 2012 races, their Crossroads groups are shooting for a staggering $240 million to help Republicans take back the Senate and the White House. These three should scare Obama more than whoever ends up the nominee.
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13/5112. John Boehner
_Ohio Representative, Speaker of the House _
Sure, maybe the inmates—or at least his deputies Eric Cantor (#1) and Kevin McCarthy (#8)—are running the House GOP asylum. And his crying fits, combined with his love of good red wine, feed all sorts of scurrilous talk in D.C. But as long as Boehner's the Speaker, he matters. As one progressive strategist puts it, "He has a knack for clawing his power back in moments like the debt ceiling and payroll-tax debates." And there isn't a single Republican Congressional candidate who won't be begging him to host a fundraiser in their district during his annual August bus tour. Lots of Republicans still owe him lots of favors.
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14/5114. Tommy Boggs
_Chairman, Patton Boggs _
Arguably the city's most influential lobbyist for the past two decades—his representation of Mars Inc., for instance, has resulted in the company's candy bars going to nearly every American service member—Boggs recently raised his game by monetizing the Arab Spring. In Spring 2011, he took on Libya's Transitional National Council as a client. "He represents the guys who took out Qaddafi," a fellow Washington lobbyist marvels. "Does it get much more powerful than that?" (Hint: Oil!)
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15/5115. Dan Pfeiffer
White House Communications Director
A favorite of Obama's as much for his basketball prowess as his press instincts, Pfeiffer's trademark crew cut has gotten grayer over the past two years as he's orchestrated the public response to calamities of every stripe, from the Gulf oil spill to the deficit. Watch for him to craft a sharper, more proactive message as the White House assumes war footing for the campaign.
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16/5116. Gene Sperling and Jack Lew
Director, White House National Economic Council New White House Chief of Staff
Jobs. This four-letter word is to the 2012 campaign what change was in 2008 and 9/11 was in 2004. Which means that if Obama can't convince voters that he's on the right side of this one, he'll probably be remembered as a very good-looking one-term president. So Sperling took the lead crafting the Jobs Act and Lew, as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, was point on the budget process and deficit reduction. (Last week, Lew was appointed White House chief of staff, so now he's point on everything.) Together they've got to make Americans believe that Obama is trying harder.
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17/5117. Chuck Schumer
New York Senator
Media whore, Wall Street shill, shameless self-promoter—and yet, according to The Washington Post, the man who is "arguably the single most effective lawmaker of his generation." "He's the Willy Loman of the Senate," one senior Democratic aide says of Schumer's tenacity, which has him well positioned to become the Senate Democrats' leader whenever Harry Reid packs it in.
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18/5118. Grover Norquist
_President, Americans for Tax Reform _
Grover, 2003: "We will make it so that a Democrat cannot govern as a Democrat." Grover, 2011: He's arm-twisted 238 members of the House and 41 Senators into signing his pledge never to vote for a tax increase, making it virtually impossible for Washington to address the debt crisis with anything other than spending cuts.
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19/5119. Chuck Todd
Chief White House Correspondent, NBC News
A typical day in the life of the correspondent begins with a before-sunrise appearance on Today and/or Morning Joe. Then, at 9:00 a.m. he hosts his own MSNBC show Daily Rundown. After that, he pops up on more MSNBC and NBC programs throughout the day, including the evening news. All the while Todd's regularly updating his Twitter feed and Facebook page, as well as posting to NBC's "First Read" blog. Through sheer ubiquity alone, Todd might be the most important political journalist working today. Throw in the fact that he's widely liked, not at all flashy, and smart as hell, and it's no contest.
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20/5120. David Rhodes Ben Rhodes
President, CBS News; Deputy National Security Advisor and speechwriter
After Sasha and Malia, the brothers Rhodes may be the most powerful siblings in Washington. On behalf of aspiring Power Parents everywhere, GQ went straight to the source: mom, Jane Rhodes.
Ok, so what did you put in their Wheaties?
In truth, they had a very ordinary childhood. They didn't travel the world and speak six languages. But they've always been very intense about what they did.
Powerful personalities tend to clash. Did they get along growing up?
They've always been very close—even though Ben's a Mets and Jets fan, and David is a Yankees and Giants fan. Probably the biggest difficulty was when David was at Fox and Ben was on the Obama campaign. If they could weather that, they can handle anything.
There must be news events where you see both of their work in action.
There was the night bin Laden was killed, when the announcers cut in to say that the President was going to make a live statement. We knew it must be something big. Then we laughed because we knew Ben would be working on the speech, and we watched it on CBS.
You must have been proud.
I emailed them both the next morning and said "There was a pretty decent chance your father and I would have been asleep. Someone could've called!"
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21/5121. Paul Ryan
_Wisconsin Representative _
The wonky Wisconsin Congressman is the brain of the GOP. He's also a savvy political operator who cultivates relationships with politicos and press. That's why Mitt and Co. have all given the nod to his budget and Medicare proposals and why David Brooks said that he was responsible for "the most comprehensive and most courageous budget reform proposal any of us have seen in our lifetimes." Even progressive Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein (#34) says, "Ryan has become a major player in Washington entirely on the back of his policy knowledge, proposals, and salesmanship. He's very smart, and very committed to his ideas. But his numbers used to add up better than they do now that he's speaking on behalf of the entire House GOP." If the Republicans win back the White House this year, his plans could become a reality.
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22/5122. Denis McDonough
_Deputy National Security Adviser _
McDonough has been Obama's foreign-policy conscience since the campaign, and other than longtime co-conspirator Ben Rhodes (#20), no one is more closely trusted when it's time for the commander in chief to make a decision that could cost lives, from drawing the last troops out of Iraq to authorizing the Bin Laden raid. "Every call has its risks," says consigliere David Alrod. "You want to have people around you who are clear-eyed and make good judgments and share your values—people who you can count on. Denis is that to a tee."
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23/5123. Heather and Tony Podesta
Heather Podesta + Partners; Podesta Group
The ultimate Democratic power couple, with his-and-hers lobbying shops that have raked in a combined $90 million since Obama entered the White House. According to their critics, neither one knows a thing about policy. But they do know Democratic politicians—and they raise a ton of money for them. Which means that they can get their clients (including BP and Google for him; Eli Lilly and U.S. Steel for her) into the office of any important Democrat in town. Indeed, the Podestas might have just as much on the line this November as Obama and Harry Reid do.
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24/5124. Chris Van Hollen
Maryland Representative
The Dems' version of Cantor: youngish, smart, and very ambitious. Except Van Hollen actually gets along with his party's House leader, which is why Nancy Pelosi made him the ranking member of the Budget Committee. "He's one of our top fundraisers, he's got the policy bona fides, and he's great on TV," says one senior Democratic aide. "He's the full package." Potentially a future Speaker, unless he jumps to the Senate or winds up in Annapolis as Maryland's governor.
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25/5125. Paul D. Clement
Partner, Bancroft
W.'s former solicitor general has snatched up every high-profile legal challenge against the administration; this March he'll argue the unconstitutionality of the president's health care law. When betting on Obamacare's chances, remember that Clement has delivered more oral arguments (fifty-five) before the Supreme Court than almost any other active attorney. And when Obama ran the Harvard Law Review, guess who was the Supreme Court editor?
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26/5126. Jim DeMint
_South Carolina Senator _
Plenty of Republicans are still sore at him for helping wacky, unelectable Tea Party candidates like Christine O'Donnell ("I'm not a witch!") win primaries in 2010 and, in the process, preventing the GOP from reclaiming the Senate. But Republicans have swallowed their anger and now try to stay on DeMint's good side, if only because they don't want him sending his irate band of Tea Partiers after them.
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27/5127. Kathy Ruemmler
_White House Counsel _
As a young federal prosecutor sending Enron baddies Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling to jail, Ruemmler's penchant for stilettos in the courtroom earned her the nickname "the Prosecutrix." Now at the White House, she's overseen some of the hottest legal issues facing the administration, including Gitmo and the phase-out of "Don't ask, don't tell."
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28/5128. Joe Pounder
_Research Director, Republican National Committee _
You've probably never heard of Pounder, but you know his work. Think of any big news story that's bedeviled Obama in the past year—from Solyndra to the ATF's "Fast and Furious" scandal—and Pounder, 28, has been the one injecting it into the media's bloodstream. "He makes sure the right stories get to the right person and get circulated in the right way," explains one GOP strategist. "It's like an orchestra. You've got to have all the different instruments playing at the right time. And Pounder's the conductor."
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29/5129. Tim Scott
_South Carolina Representative _
One of only two black Republicans in Congress, Scott, who knocked off Strom Thurmond's son en route to winning a House seat in 2010, has Tea Party street cred from voting against the debt ceiling deal. At the same time, he's got establishment credentials thanks to his spot on the House GOP's thirteen-person leadership team, which puts him in a room every week with Boehner and Cantor. And every Republican presidential candidate who harbors any hopes of winning the South Carolina primary has come to Charleston to kiss his ring. Other House freshmen, like Allen West and Sean Duffy, might get more ink and airtime, but Scott's the only one who's already being called a kingmaker.
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30/5131. Brian Deese
Deputy Director, White House National Economic Council
It may seem improbable that Obama would entrust the rebuilding of GM and Chrysler to a disheveled 33-year-old with an indie rocker beard. As former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs puts it, "He's as responsible as anyone in this country for saving the auto industry from extinction—and saving the million jobs that go with it." With that feather in his cap, Deese is now marshaling the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms.
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31/5130. Nancy Hogan
Director, Presidential Personnel
The ecutive branch comprises thousands of jobs across the various agencies and departments, a large portion of which are so-called political appointments, meaning they change hands whenever a new president arrives. In charge of vetting every single one of these hires—from Secretary of Defense to the Great Lakes fishery commissioner—is Nancy Hogan. If you want a plum job, step one is to go begging to Nancy. Be honest about your drug use; she'll find out anyway.
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32/5132. Arne Duncan
Secretary of Education
At 36 he became CEO of Chicago public schools, where, during his tenure graduation rates rose by nearly ten percentage points. On Election Day 2008, the former co-captain of the Harvard basketball team played hoops with Obama. Last year, he scored a record $77 billion from Obama for education programs, including the president's marquee Race to the Top reforms. "He's universally regarded as the single best performer in the president's cabinet," says education activist Steve Brill.
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33/5133. Jake Sullivan
Director of Policy Planning, State Department
The taxonomy of Hillary Clinton's inner circle, long a fascination of beltway types, tends to focus on HRC-clones and vengeful personalities. Which is why it's so impressive that Jake Sullivan, a good-humored and precocious young aide, has become a top dog at State. A fellow adviser says that Sullivan is the last person in the room briefing Clinton before every event, and has helped shift her focus toward the Pacific and integrating economics into foreign policy. "Jake Sullivan is without question the most powerful man in the State Department," the adviser said. Emphasis on man, of course.
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34/5134. Ezra Klein
Blogger, The Washington Post
As proprietor of the Post's Wonkblog, where he writes and oversees three other policy bloggers, the not-yet-30-year-old has become a singular journalistic force. Obama officials and Congressional Democrats seek his approval on various policy proposals; even Republicans—at least the wonky ones—feel compelled to engage his criticisms. After Klein took a fine-tooth comb to Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal, Ryan sent him a 2,200 word response. Which Klein proceeded to dismantle.
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35/51**36. Bill Daley **
(Former) Chief of Staff, White House
Yes, some think he was effectively demoted after a disappointing turn as chief of staff. But the grandee of the of the infamous Daley family and consummate Washington insider still has a major say in policy and serves as a key intermediary with business and outside groups. Still a Daley, no longer in D.C.
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36/5139. Liz Cheney
Co-Founder, Keep America Safe
Washington's political-cable complex needs a villain, and in the Obama era, the "knife-in-her-teeth" daughter of Dick Cheney, as Maureen Dowd called her, is only too happy to take dad's place in the Death Star. A co-author of her father's poison-laced In My Time, Cheney is the softer, blonder face of enhanced interrogation techniques. And she "very well may" run for office someday. In other words: The Empire Strikes Back.
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37/5135. Rob Nabors
White House Director of Legislative Affairs
How many House Democrats have pledged to vote for a jobs package? Which Senate Republicans can be persuaded to vote for a liberal judge? As the White House's chief liaison to Congress, this is the kind of information that Nabors needs to have at his fingertips. If support is too low—and when isn't it these days?—it falls to him to turn votes Obama's way.
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38/5137. Patty Murray
Washington Senator
When she came to the Senate in 1992 her election was dismissed as a fluke. Now she's in charge of the Senate Democrats' 2012-campaign efforts. "There's still that buzz that she's not a heavyweight," says one senior Democratic Senate aide. "She's thrived by being underestimated."
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39/5138. Capital Weather Gang
Bloggers, The Washington Post
The Washington Post forecasting outfit is made up of fifteen "degreed meteorologists and/or hard-core weather geeks (typically both)," says weather editor Jason Samenow. Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau checks CWG "obsessively," and he's not alone. The Gang pride themselves on putting weather into plain English ("The temperature is right, the damp is wrong. Today is a 10 for mushrooms!") and embrace the oddball YouTube clips a town full of wonks will love.
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40/5140. Mike Allen
Reporter, Politico
Dubbed by the Times as "the man the White House wakes up to," Allen pens Politico's Playbook—the daily email newsletter that anyone who's anyone in Washington (and, with nearly 130,000 subscribers, many who aren't) reads before they've rolled out of bed. But it's getting crowded out there. "I get seven of these things a day," sighs one Democratic strategist, who confesses that some days he'll read another Politico newsletter, Morning Score, before he skims Playbook. Watch your back, Mike!
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41/5141. José Andrés
Restaurateur
"It happens rarely that a city of any size is so fully identified with one chef," says ubiquitous New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. "But you cannot think about Washington-slash-food without the next slash being José Andrés." Andrés is the culinary whiz behind Zaytinya, Oyamel, Minibar, and other Washington-foodie dream reservations. And in a city where ESPN can qualify as ambiance, an Andrés restaurant is a lofty experience.
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42/5145. Charles Krauthammer
_Syndicated Columnist _
More than 250 outlets syndicate his Washington Post column, and he's a fixture at liberal stonings on Fox News. His tone-setting attacks against the administration caused the National Review to pen a love letter titled "Critic-in-Chief."
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43/5142. Svetlana Legetic, Jayne Sandman, Barbara Martin
_Party planners _
Washington nightlife is dominated by two very different types of party planners. Martin and Sandman of BrandLinkDC cater to the Georgetown-soiree-and-hotel-bar circuit (VIPS: Candace Bushnell, John Legend); Legetic's Brightest Young Things serves a scruffier, pale-ale-drinking clientele with concerts and comedy (VIPS: Animal Collective, Wale).
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44/5144. Jeremy Bernard
White House Social Secretary
The first man to hold this position, Bernard oversees all social functions at the White House, from the President's Passover Seder to giant State dinners. There's actually a lot riding on this job—just ask Desirée Rogers.
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45/5143. Marco Rubio
Florida Senator
Cuban-American. Handsome. Married to former Dolphins cheerleader. 2012, VP. 2016, The World.
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46/5146. Chris Dodd
_Chairman, Motion Picture Association of America _
Need proof that there's life after a losing presidential bid and getting drummed out of the Senate? Look no further than Dodd, the new chairman of the MPAA. Not only does he represent one of America's more influential export industries, he also chaperones Hollywood's leading lights when they come to town and doles out invites to the MPAA's screening room two blocks from the White House. Added juice: His name is on the financial-services-reform legislation at the center of D.C. lobbying battles for years to come.
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47/5147. Stephen Strasburg
_Pitcher, Washington Nationals _
He pitched twenty-four innings in five games this year. He had one win, one loss and was the most exciting pitcher in baseball. On the night that the young Nationals ace debuted in 2010—fanning fourteen batters in seven innings, among the all-time great first starts in baseball history—DC's heart swelled for the real-deal phenom with unreal stuff. And then it broke two months later when his elbow popped. The capital warily greeted his post-Tommy John surgery return, but as the 99-mph fastballs, freeze-frame change-ups, and close-shave curveballs flew, Washingtonians let themselves fall in love again.
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48/5148. Jack Quinn
Chairman, Quinn Gillespie Associates
The Democratic megalobbyist represents juggernaut clients like ATT and AARP. He also sits on the board of the defense firm formerly known as Blackwater, making sure they hold on to those hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of security contracts.
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49/5149. James Alefantis
Restaurateur and Bon Vivant
Liberal twentysomethings in khakis drink beer and eat pizza at Alefantis-owned Comet Ping Pong. More established progressives wine and dine next door at Alefantis-owned Buck's Fishing Camping. Alefantis is also the board president of Transformer, the contemporary art gallery that shamed the Smithsonian for removing an installation offensive to right-wingers. When it comes to D.C. radical chic, Alefantis is unsurpassed. If you don't know him, you aren't wearing your scarf right.
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50/51The Most Powerful People of the Campaign Season
Jim Messina
Barack Obama's campaign manager
He is on track to have $1 billion to run what is arguably the most consequential presidential campaign for Democrats in the modern era.
Matt Rhoades
_Mitt Romney's campaign manager _
The unassuming strategist has to best the anybody-but-Mitt crowd in the primaries, then run an anybody-but-Obama White House race.
**Mike Bloomberg, mayor of New York **
Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey
These tristate titans are Obama's most withering critics—Christie as a Romney proxy (and potential VP), Bloomberg forever flirting with his own national bid.
Nate Silver
New York Times blogger
Jon Stewart
_Host of _The Daily Show
Demystifying campaign spin with equal, if utterly different, acts of brilliance—Stewart with satire, Silver with statistics.
Buffy Wicks Michael Blake
Operation Vote
With the president's numbers down among white independents, their task is getting a critical minority vote out to the polls for Obama.
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51/5150. Bradley Graham Lissa Muscatine
_Owners, Politics Prose _
The former Washington Post reporter and his wife, a former Hillary Clinton speechwriter, prevailed last year in a furious bidding war for liberal Washington's most sacred space. Since taking over the bookstore, the couple has upped its profile, hosting readings and events featuring wonky celebs like Jeffrey Sachs, Thomas Friedman, and Michael Moore. As Franklin Foer, former editor of The New Republic, who also made a bid for the bookstore puts it: "It's essentially the big church for elite Washington." Pagans.