Josh Oppenheimer joined the American Retirement Association (ARA) in January 2025 as Senior Director of Federal Legislative Affairs. In this role, he leads key initiatives in ARA’s federal legislative strategy, engaging with Congressional offices and regulatory agencies to advance policies that enhance retirement security and protect the interests of plan sponsors, participants, and service providers.
Josh brings extensive experience from the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Most recently, he served as a Biden-Harris Administration political appointee at the U.S. Department of Labor. He held key roles, including Senior Policy Advisor in the Employee Benefits Security Administration and Deputy Oversight Counsel & Senior Legislative Officer in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. In these capacities, he led a nationwide education and outreach initiative to expand retirement plan adoption among small businesses in underserved communities. He represented the Department before Congress on retirement-related rulemaking and managed oversight inquiries, including responses to subpoenas for privileged information.
Before his executive branch service, Josh was Senior Pensions Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) under Chairs Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Patty Murray (D-WA). He oversaw the Committee’s pensions and retirement portfolio, providing expert analysis on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other key legislative issues, including the SECURE Act, the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, cryptocurrency in retirement plans, and ESG & fiduciary regulations. He was pivotal in drafting and negotiating the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, including the HELP Committee’s RISE & SHINE Act.
Before entering government, Josh was an associate at Steptoe LLP, advising clients on complex ERISA and financial regulatory, legislative, and political matters.
Josh holds a Juris Doctorate, Master of Public Administration, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
