In 1989, Kennedy left Reid's office to work for then-Illinois Sen. Paul Simon (D) on the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. He was a subcommittee chief counsel, and by the end of his six years on the panel had worked his way up to staff director.

In 1995, Kennedy went to work on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which is now known as the Committee on Education and Labor. He was labor coordinator and chief labor counsel, working for the ranking Democrat, Rep. William L. Clay, Jr., (D-Mo.). A decade later, Kennedy would return to the committee under Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.)

Clinton White House

In late 1998, Kennedy went to the White House. Bill Clinton appointed him special assistant to the president for economic affairs on the National Economic Council.

He worked under then-director Gene B. Sperling, who is now advising Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

In the waning days of the Clinton administration, Kennedy moved to the Department of Labor as deputy national director of Job Corps, a free job-training program. The congressionally-funded program offers educational and vocational training to young people between the ages of 16 and 24, with the goal of making them employable and independent.

In 2006, the Democrats took back control of the House and the Senate, and Kennedy returned to the Hill to work as general counsel to Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

In March 2009, he was named Obama's choice for assistant secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental affairs at the Labor Department.

Kennedy lives in Virginia with his wife, Elizabeth, and their two daughters, Nicole and Samantha.

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