Dave McCormick

David Harold McCormick (born August 17, 1965) is an American politician, businessman, and former Army officer serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Pennsylvania. A member of the Republican Party, he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, from 2020 to 2022.

McCormick graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1987 and served in Iraq during the Gulf War. He received the Bronze Star while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1996, McCormick earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University. From 2005 to 2009, he held several positions in the George W. Bush administration, lastly as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. McCormick left the Bush administration in 2009 to become president of Bridgewater, a position he held until becoming co-CEO in 2017. He became its sole CEO in 2020, and stepped down from the position to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022.

After a narrow loss to Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary in 2022, McCormick ran again in the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania, narrowly defeating three-term incumbent Democratic senator Bob Casey Jr..

Early life and education

McCormick was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Pittsburgh area. He attended high school in Bloomsburg. His father, James H. McCormick, was president of Bloomsburg University and chancellor for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. His mother, Maryan G. McCormick, was a college professor.

McCormick graduated from West Point in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was a four-time letterman on the Army wrestling team and the team's co-captain his senior year. He was a two-time Eastern runner-up at 167 pounds.

In 1996, he earned a Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. Two years later, he published a book, ''The Downsized Warrior'', based on his doctoral thesis about the downsizing of the U.S. Army at the end of the Cold War.

In 2021, McCormick received an honorary degree from Dickinson College.

Military career

After graduating from West Point, McCormick went to United States Army Airborne School and to Ranger School; he was named the Honor Graduate of Ranger School. He joined the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1987.

McCormick was part of the first wave of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991 and received the Bronze Star for his actions. He was executive officer of a combat engineering company of 130 soldiers tasked with clearing minefields and destroying enemy munitions. McCormick left the service in 1992 after five years' commissioned service, separating at the rank of Captain.

Private sector career

From 1996 to 1999, McCormick worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. based in Pittsburgh.

In 1999, McCormick joined FreeMarkets, a global provider of software and services. Later that year, the company conducted an initial public offering. McCormick was promoted to president of FreeMarkets in 2001 and was named chief executive officer in 2002. He sold FreeMarkets to Ariba in 2004 for approximately $500 million and then remained at Ariba as president for the next 18 months until he was asked to join the Bush administration.

Bridgewater Associates

McCormick joined Bridgewater Associates in 2009 as its president. He became co-CEO in 2017, and was responsible for overseeing the firm's management and liaising with institutional investors.

In December 2019, it was announced that McCormick would become the sole CEO of Bridgewater in 2020, marking the end of a 10-year management transition of the firm. As head of Bridgewater, McCormick had raised 8 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) for a private fund in China by November 2021. In late 2021, while McCormick was mulling a run for a United States Senate seat in Pennsylvania, he began to distance himself from Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio and his defenses of China's human rights policies, openly rebuking him during company calls. Bridgewater also shorted some iconic Pennsylvania companies, including US Steel and Hershey, under his leadership.

McCormick left Bridgewater on January 3, 2022, and was replaced by Mark Bertolini and Nir Bar Dea as co-CEOs.

Career in government

Bush administration

McCormick's career in government began in 2005, when he was nominated and confirmed as the Commerce Department's Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security. In this role, he oversaw export controls and was part of negotiations that led to the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement. Later he became the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Policy and was George W. Bush's personal representative and negotiator to the Group of 8 (G8) industrialized countries before moving to the Treasury Department in 2007.

McCormick was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 2007 to 2009, serving as the United States' leading international economic diplomat. In this role, he was the principal adviser to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on international economic issues and oversaw policies in the areas of international finance, trade in financial services, investment, economic development and international debt policy.

McCormick coordinated financial market policy with the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries and the Group of Twenty (G20) global economies, working with finance ministers and their deputies. He served as Paulson's point person on the international response to the 2008 financial crisis. McCormick was credited with using his relationships with top executives and policy makers around the world to help coordinate the Treasury Department's response.

Consideration for roles in the Trump administration

When Donald Trump became president-elect in 2016, he considered naming McCormick the U.S. Secretary of Treasury, but instead offered him the position of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense. McCormick declined this position because he was happy with his role at Bridgewater. In early 2019, the Trump administration considered McCormick for U.S. Secretary of Defense.

In 2017, James Mattis named McCormick as a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, a federal advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2020, Trump removed McCormick from this position along with 11 other members with ties to the foreign policy establishment.

Political donations and endorsements

Since 2009, McCormick has donated more than $300,000 to politicians, political parties, and political action committees. He donated to the campaigns of Senators John McCain and Mitch McConnell and the congressional campaign of Mike Pompeo. In 2014, McCormick donated $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association. McCormick supported Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign.

McCormick did not donate to Trump's 2016 or 2020 presidential campaigns.

McCormick has mainly supported Republicans, but has also donated to Democrats, including congressional candidates Dan Helmer and Amy McGrath and Senator Jack Reed.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2022

In December 2021, acccording to reports, Republicans began recruiting McCormick to run for the United States Senate seat in Pennsylvania then held by Pat Toomey, who chose to not seek reelection in 2022. On November 22, 2021, Sean Parnell—who had been endorsed by Trump and was regarded as a front-runner in the Senate race—withdrew from the race amid accusations of domestic violence from his estranged wife. McCormick announced his candidacy for the Senate on January 13, 2022.

McCormick's Republican primary opponents criticized him for recently being a resident of Connecticut and for leading a hedge fund that invested in China. A Super PAC supporting Mehmet Oz accused McCormick of outsourcing jobs from Pittsburgh to India while McCormick was CEO of FreeMarkets. McCormick denied the claim, but said he did have to eliminate 40 to 50 Pittsburgh-based jobs; McCormick denied that the decision was related to outsourcing. In response to Oz, McCormick demanded Oz renounce his dual citizenship with Turkey.

In February 2022, McCormick ran a 30-second commercial during Super Bowl LVI highlighting the rising inflation rate and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan against the audio background of crowds chanting "Let's go Brandon", a coded insult to Joe Biden.

Trump endorsed Oz on April 10, 2022, citing the popularity of his television show and perceived appeal to female voters. McCormick had sought Trump's endorsement, but according to McCormick, Trump told him he would need to say the 2020 presidential election was stolen in order to earn Trump's endorsement.

McCormick lost the primary election to Oz, 31.2% to 31.1%. An automatic recount was triggered because Oz's margin of victory was less than 0.5%. The recount did not help McCormick, whose campaign launched a court case to have undated mail-in ballots counted with the rest of the votes. (The mail-in ballots were seen as potentially helping McCormick should they be included.) Oz's margin of victory was less than 1,000 votes. On June 3, McCormick conceded to Oz.

During the primary, McCormick released campaign televised advertisements questioning Oz's stances on issues such as abortion and gun rights, calling Oz a "Hollywood liberal" and a "RINO" ( Republican In Name Only). According to ''Politico'', those ads hurt Oz during his general election campaign against Democratic nominee John Fetterman, who defeated Oz.

2024

On September 21, 2023, McCormick announced his second Senate campaign. Soon after announcing his candidacy, he was endorsed by the Pennsylvania Republican Party and by Trump. He was already seen as the party's favorite and had the support of many Republican officials before he announced. McCormick had a clear path to the Republican nomination after two minor candidates who filed to run against him were disqualified.

McCormick was present at the July 2024 Pennsylvania rally where an attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania took place. He was in the front row of the rally, to Trump's right, when shots rang out. McCormick has said that shortly before the shooting, Trump invited McCormick on stage, but changed his mind and requested that McCormick instead wait till later in the rally. McCormick called the incident "very scary" and said Trump was "very lucky to be alive".

Fox News called the race for McCormick by November 7, and the Associated Press did so by November 12. ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN projected the race for McCormick after Casey conceded on November 21. McCormick's win was seen as an upset.

Tenure

McCormick took office on January 3, 2025. On January 9, he attended Jimmy Carter's state funeral.

McCormick has voted to confirm all of Trump's cabinet nominees, including Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense.

On March 11, 2025, McCormick co-sponsored his first bipartisan, bicameral bill, one of the co-sponsors being his fellow Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. The legislation aims to improve federal coordination for the fentanyl crisis. McCormick said the bill would "empower our federal government to coordinate all the tools at its disposal to combat the trafficking of lethal fentanyl that is ruining American families."

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:
* Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
** Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
**Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance
**Subcommittee on Digital Assets
*Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
** Subcommittee on Energy (chairman)
** Subcommittee on Water and Power
*Committee on Foreign Relations
** Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
** Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy and Environmental Policy
** Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism (chairman)
* Special Committee on Aging
*Joint Economic Committee

Political positions

2021 U.S. Capitol attack

McCormick expressed regret over the 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol. He said the attack marks "a dark chapter in American history" and "puts a highlight on the responsibility of leaders to be able to create a dialogue where people are understood." He also said, "I think rumphas some responsibility, a lot of responsibility for he attack and I think that this last dark chapter at the Capitol...history will look very unfavorably on that and all the people that were involved in that."

Free trade

McCormick has highlighted the benefits of free trade, stating in 2008 that "the key to remaining competitive in today's changing world is embracing openness to trade and to investment and to people". In more recent times, he has supported President Trump's America First policy, indicating a shift. In the past, he has seemed to argue that the benefits of free trade outweighed the downside of displacing American workers and suggested retraining those whose jobs have become obsolete. He also opposed U.S. exports which gave advantages to China's military. In 2009, McCormick and Karan Bhatia co-wrote an opinion piece for Wall Street Journal Asia supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Foreign policy

McCormick has championed the role of a strong United States on the world stage and has advocated for the idea that the United States can focus on addressing domestic issues while also leading efforts to promote human rights. In 2016 he said, "If we are to promote equality and pluralism around the world, we must walk towards, rather than away from, our unique success in advancing these values at home while still embracing the idea that America is, and always will be, a work in progress".

China

In 2007, McCormick spoke as a member of the Bush administration in Beijing, China, where he said that "When China succeeds, the United States succeeds" and that the U.S. owes "much of the strength and vitality of our economic relationship today to the remarkable success of China's economic development over the last three decades". As a member of the Bush administration, McCormick pushed China to raise the value of its currency. He later praised President Trump's administration for measures to counter China.

Immigration

McCormick has called for increasing skilled immigration to the United States. He also supports building a wall on the US-Mexico border.

LGBTQ rights

In 2013, McCormick joined 131 other Republicans in signing an ''amicus'' brief filed at the United States Supreme Court supporting the legalization of gay marriage prior to ''Obergefell v. Hodges''. During McCormick's tenure as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the company's policy was to fully pay for gender transition surgery. During his campaign for Senate, McCormick stated that he opposes federal funding towards gender transition surgeries and transgender girls participating in girls' competitive sports.

Personal life

In 2019, McCormick married Dina Powell, an executive at Goldman Sachs who was Deputy National Security Advisor in the first Trump administration. Until 2015 he was married to Amy Richardson, with whom he has four children.Charles Thompson
A TV star, a diplomat, soldiers and other self-made successes: Meet the Republicans who want to be Pa.’s next senator
''Penn Live'' (April 2022). He also has two stepdaughters from his marriage to Powell.

McCormick and Powell live in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. They previously owned a home in Westport, Connecticut, where his children attend high school and where he lived before his political campaigns. After their divorce in 2015, Richardson received ownership of the couple's former primary residence in Westport, while McCormick retained ownership of a house in Southport, Connecticut, and 70 acres of central Pennsylvania farmland. In January 2023, he sold a condominium on Manhattan's Upper East Side. As of 2023, McCormick rented a $16 million home in Westport. As of March 2024, McCormick splits his time between Connecticut and Pennsylvania; his residency was a major issue during his 2024 Senate campaign.

In 2009, McCormick taught at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College, on its Washington, D.C. campus; he held the title of Distinguished Service Professor of Information Technology, Public Policy and Management. He was elected to a three-year term on CMU's board of trustees in 2011.

McCormick is on the board of both the United Service Organizations (USO) and the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).

Electoral history

Published works

* ''The Downsized Warrior: America's Army in Transition'' (1998)
* ''Superpower in Peril: A Battle Plan to Renew America'' (2023)
* ''Who Believed in You?: How Purposeful Mentorship Changes the World'' (2025)

Notes

References

External links

Senator Dave McCormick
official U.S. Senate website

Campaign website
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Dave McCormick
at PolitiFact

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, David Harold
1965 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American male writers
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