Dave McCormick sworn in as Pennsylvania’s newest senator

WASHINGTON — Dave McCormick took the oath Friday as Pennsylvania’s junior senator, bringing a new voice to Capitol Hill and giving Republicans a Senate seat in the state after two years of sole control by Democrats.

As McCormick left the chamber after his swearing-in, his wife Dina Powell and their daughters greeted him in the hallway. “You can call him Senator now!” Powell said as the hugs commenced. After a quick photo, the family loaded into a packed elevator to head to a reception.

McCormick said he felt “gratitude and responsibility” upon joining the Senate. “I feel touched by it. Honored.”

The combat veteran and hedge fund CEO’s win against longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Casey has made him a rising star in the Republican Party, earning him national attention even as a freshman a little more than two years after he came up short in the primary during his first run for office. Despite a national red wave, GOP Senate candidates in several other battleground states fell short this cycle, which highlights McCormick’s feat.

McCormick is now the highest-ranking Republican in the state and has already wielded some of that influence. His preferred choice to lead the state Republican Party appears to be a front-runner in the February election.

“He’s coming from a large swing state having knocked off the most recognizable political name in the state of Pennsylvania,” GOP strategist Vince Galko said. “With Republicans taking control of the Senate, he’s one of the reasons why, so it’s understandable why people see him as a rising star.”

On Friday at the Capitol McCormick and his wife Powell were friendly with Vice President Kamala Harris as they met her for his ceremonial swearing-in and introduced her to their five daughters in attendance.

”They would love a picture with you,” Powell said.

After posing with Harris for photos, McCormick’s daughters had a giggly exchange with the Democratic vice president. They also bonded over having “blended” families since both Harris and McCormick have stepchildren.

Now McCormick starts a six-year term representing the state in the chamber, where he’ll have to navigate complex relationships in a GOP-controlled, but still narrowly divided, Congress. How he will chart his course in President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington remains an open question.

» READ MORE: Meet Pennsylvania’s new members of Congress as they take the oath today

While Democrats note that Trump’s strong performance in Pennsylvania, along with a flood of super PAC money, likely helped McCormick, McCormick also ran a smart campaign that tapped into the concerns of the Pennsylvania electorate and avoided the pitfalls of celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz’s 2022 unsuccessful general election campaign. Some of the money his super PAC raised also helped fuel Republicans more broadly.

“Everyone has witnessed the resources he brought to bear in Pennsylvania this year,” RNC committeeman Andy Reilly said.

Reilly said McCormick gained the respect of the state party for running again without animosity toward people who slighted him in his first campaign when he narrowly lost the primary to Oz.

“He came back after a 900-vote loss to run again without bitterness, but with optimism and an abundance of focused energy,” Reilly said. “A number of party regulars who had rejected Dave, including Trump, Dave moved forward embracing. He’s used to leading people but understanding people are different. I think he’ll be the same way as a senator.”

An early question is what McCormick’s relationship with President-elect Donald Trump will be like and how he’ll vote on Trump’s cabinet nominees.

McCormick campaigned closely with Trump and has appeared with him frequently since winning, including at a dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago in late November, and at the Army-Navy game last month.

Asked about Trump’s cabinet nominees, McCormick said he’ll vet them but also pledged to assemble a team that allows Trump to carry out his agenda.

“President Trump won a big mandate and he promised disruption,” McCormick said this week in an interview with former Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Kathy Barnette. Trump won the state by about 1.7 percentage points and the national popular vote by 1.5 points, a narrower margin than President Joe Biden’s 2020 popular vote win.

“He ran as a disrupter, so he’s going to pick nominees that are disrupters and I think he’s done that in many cases, and my job as I see it is to help make sure President Trump has the team he needs to be successful.”

Trump’s nominees to high-level posts include McCormick’s former primary rival, Oz, who Trump has tapped to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. McCormick has said he’ll support Oz for the post.

Freshman senators don’t typically stray too far from their party as they adjust to the Senate but those who know McCormick predicted the former West Point wrestler, with roots in Bloomsburg, now living in Pittsburgh, puts Pennsylvanians first.

“There’s tremendous pressures that come, particularly from the White House, and that’s not unique to the Trump administration,” said Charlie Gerow, a Pennsylvania Republican strategist. “But I think Dave McCormick will be his own man and I think that’s what the people of Pennsylvania elected him to be.”

» READ MORE: Delaware makes history as Sarah McBride and Lisa Blunt Rochester take the oath in Washington

There are ample signs that Pennsylvania’s two senators, who both hail from the Pittsburgh area, could have a particularly friendly partnership even amid heated partisanship.

Fetterman has broadcast his willingness to work with Trump’s cabinet picks, several of whom he’s already met with. And while he’s called Casey’s loss especially upsetting — the senior senator had shown him the ropes and been a close ally in D.C. — Fetterman has also publicly lauded McCormick.

Former GOP Sen. Pat Toomey and Casey had a good working relationship, particularly on nominating federal judges. Senators from opposing parties have historically also gotten along as they are not competing for money or status at home. “Their elbows aren’t out jockeying for a position within the party,” Gerow said.

Reilly also predicted the two would “hit it off.”

“You have two things occurring: Dave open to working with anyone — his mentality right now is ‘let’s get together’ — and Fetterman who, for the last three months, has been more tacking to the center on many issues. That’s not gonna leave a lot of room between he and Dave.”

With Casey’s loss after 18 years in the Senate, Pennsylvania’s delegation is now relatively inexperienced. Fetterman has just two years in the chamber. But it behooves both members to work together, especially on state-specific issues.

“They’re both junior, still in the learning process, but if they find a way to get along with each other it will certainly be to the benefit of the commonwealth,” said Ross Baker, a Senate historian and Rutgers distinguished professor emeritus.

“You can waste a lot of time and energy feuding with your opposite member.”

McCormick, who held treasury and national security roles in the George W. Bush administration, focused his campaign on securing the border, curbing the flow of illegal drugs, and growing the country’s economy. He has said he’ll focus on those areas in the Senate.

He’ll serve on five committees: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; Foreign Relations; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Joint Economic Committee. McCormick’s election helped Republicans secure a 53-47 majority in the Senate, which means all committees are led by Republicans.

The 119th Congress will face a host of issues, including a looming debt ceiling debate, Trump’s promises to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, and the incoming president’s 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire this year.

McCormick will be back in D.C. Monday for Congress’ most immediate task: certifying Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election on Jan. 6.

Staff writer Aliya Schneider contributed reporting.