The First 100 Days of a David McCormick Presidency: What the Record Suggests

Hero photo: Pennsylvania State Capitol — via Wikimedia Commons.

01 The scenario

David McCormick of Pennsylvania is a Republican senator in office since January 2025 — Pennsylvania's 54th elected senator, who defeated incumbent Bob Casey Jr. in 2024 — and before that a West Point graduate, 82nd Airborne paratrooper in the First Gulf War, CEO of FreeMarkets, Treasury Under Secretary and Deputy National Security Advisor under George W. Bush, and CEO of Bridgewater Associates until 2022. This article asks a hypothetical question: if he were ever sworn in as president, what would the first 100 days look like based on his documented record? This is a scenario analysis, not a prediction that the person will become president and not an endorsement or criticism of the person.

McCormick's record is an operator's record: he has run a company, run a piece of the Treasury, and sat at the NSC, and his Senate agenda — a statutory fentanyl task force, AI-chip export controls, an energy-plus-data-center build-out — is about coordination and mobilization. A reasonable inference from these positions is that a McCormick White House would open with the levers a president holds alone — directing DOJ/DEA/HHS coordination by memorandum, China sanctions designations, Commerce chip-licensing, permitting timelines — while his task-force bill and the SAFE Chips Act would require congressional approval rather than unilateral presidential action.

02 The record: who David McCormick is

McCormick is Pennsylvania's junior senator, in office since January 2025 — the state's 54th elected senator, having defeated incumbent Bob Casey Jr. in 2024; he previously ran for Senate in 2022, losing the GOP primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz. His background: West Point graduate, 82nd Airborne paratrooper in the First Gulf War (retired Captain), Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton, CEO of the Pittsburgh tech company FreeMarkets, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary and Deputy National Security Advisor under George W. Bush — where his bio says he “spearheaded the fight to protect American technology from Chinese theft” — and CEO of Bridgewater Associates until 2022.

His committee map: Foreign Relations; Energy and Natural Resources; and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. For the scenario, that is the exact triangle of his documented agenda — China, energy, and capital markets — and he has delivered a maiden speech (full text posted on his official site).

03 Fentanyl and China

On March 11, 2025, McCormick introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025 with Sens. Coons (D-DE), Britt (R-AL), Fetterman (D-PA) and nine House members from both parties — to “improve federal coordination to combat this terrible crisis, go after trafficking organizations, respond to China's central role in producing fentanyl precursors and laundering drug money.” His office explicitly cites the toll: “Fentanyl killed nearly 4,000 Pennsylvanians last year and over 200 Americans each day.”

The lever split: DOJ/DEA/HHS coordination and China sanctions designations are executive levers a president could direct by memorandum on day one. McCormick's bill would statutorize a Joint Task Force — the durable, Congress-bound version of the same coordination.

04 Energy, AI and the 90-billion-dollar summit

On July 15, 2025, McCormick convened the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh with President Trump, where companies announced over $90 billion in investments in “data centers, energy and power infrastructure, and workforce and AI training projects” — including Blackstone's $25 billion data-center and energy investment in northeastern Pennsylvania with PPL. A 2026 follow-up release says the investments are “on track and growing.” His office explicitly frames the state as positioned “to power the AI and energy revolution” — natural gas, nuclear, and the data-center build-out.

The summit model is the scenario in miniature: private-capital mobilization plus executive facilitation. FERC interconnection queues, NEPA review timelines and DOE loan programs are largely administrative — a president can speed or slow them — which is where a McCormick-style first 100 days would concentrate energy action.

05 China and technology controls

McCormick's China focus is career-long: at Treasury and the NSC he “spearheaded the fight to protect American technology from Chinese theft” (official bio); he serves on Foreign Relations; his fentanyl bill explicitly targets “China's central role in producing fentanyl precursors.” He is also an original cosponsor of the SAFE Chips Act (S. 3374), locking in AI-chip export controls.

AI-chip export controls live in Commerce licensing — a unilateral presidential lever. SAFE Chips, which he cosponsors, would freeze the controls into law. His Foreign Relations seat is the documented check on the treaty-and-sanctions side of China policy; a president aligned with McCormick would hold the licensing lever personally on day one.

06 Defense and veterans

McCormick is an Army veteran — West Point, 82nd Airborne, First Gulf War, retired Captain — and his official site hosts a Defense Summit program. His bio frames military modernization as consistent with his NSC background. Evidence strength: moderate — specific bill positions on defense were not verified in this research pass, so the scenario draws only on the documented background, not on any invented platform.

Defense procurement and force posture have large executive components — DOD reprogramming, weapons programs, posture decisions — that a former Deputy National Security Advisor would know how to use. But there is not enough public evidence in this pass to determine his specific first-100-days defense agenda, and none is inferred.

07 The Banking Committee seat and capital markets

McCormick sits on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — the documented capital-markets lane for a former hedge-fund CEO and Treasury Under Secretary. His summit model leans on private capital (Blackstone's $25 billion commitment is the anchor example), which suggests how a McCormick presidency would try to move: mobilize investment first, regulate second.

Banking policy is statute-heavy — financial regulation runs through Congress — but the investment-mobilization part of his record is exactly what a president can do unilaterally: convene, direct permitting, and set the policy signal that capital follows. His Banking seat is the documented basis; there is not enough public evidence to determine a broader financial-regulatory agenda in this pass.

08 What the record cannot tell us

The evidence runs out in specific places. The bill number for the Joint Task Force act was not verified on congress.gov in this pass (the press release is verified). No documented position was found on immigration, healthcare, or taxes in this research pass — there is not enough public evidence to determine those positions, and none is inferred. His Senate voting record was not pulled; 2025-2026 roll-call positions are unknown here. His specific defense bill positions were not verified this pass. The 2024 election results and recusal controversies are outside this article's scope.

Disclaimer: this article is a scenario analysis based on the documented public record as of September 21, 2026. It is not a prediction that David McCormick will become president, nor an endorsement or criticism of him or his positions. Where evidence is incomplete, that is stated rather than filled in.