Press Releases

Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) today announced that after more than 30 years of service, Democratic Social Security Subcommittee Staff Director Kathryn Olson will be retiring at the end of the 118th Congress. Kathryn has served four Democratic Chairs and Ranking Members on the Ways and Means Committee and as the Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Task Force on Social Security. She played a fundamental role in advancing improvements to Social Security benefits, solvency, and service to its beneficiaries, and fiercely defended the program against Republican cuts, including privatization efforts.

“Social Security policy is what it is today because of the work and dedication of Kathryn Olson,” Ranking Member Neal said. “She has spent a career protecting and defending this most solemn promise of economic security for our nation’s retirees, people with disabilities, survivors, and their families as the Committee’s Social Security Staff Director. There isn’t a piece of Social Security legislation that’s been considered in my time in Congress that hasn’t been shaped in some way by Kathryn, and she’s been a key contributor to defeating Republicans’ repeated efforts to privatize the system. With gratitude and admiration for all she’s given to the Committee, the Congress, and the country, we wish Kathryn the best in her next chapter.”

Kathryn Olson began working in Congress in 1986 and has served for more than 30 years with the Committee on Ways and Means. She has served four Democratic Chairs and Ranking Members: Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, Sander M. Levin of Michigan, Charles B. Rangel of New York, and Daniel D. Rostenkowski of Illinois. She began her career in Congress working for Congressman Martin Olav Sabo from her home state of Minnesota.  She proudly and successfully raised 3 kids—Soren, Frances and Max Klaverkamp—while serving the nation.