Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) will chair a key subcommittee on Center East affairs, ascending to the position after campaigning as a resolute defender of Israel and fierce critic of Biden-era insurance policies that enabled Iran’s terror community within the area, The Submit has discovered.
The freshman senator will take up the gavel for the influential Senate Overseas Relations Subcommittee on Close to East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, in line with sources acquainted the matter, which can be introduced later by the total committee’s chairman James Risch (R-Idaho).
“I am honored to chair a subcommittee on such critical issues,” McCormick advised The Submit. “I see this as a great opportunity to strengthen the US-Israel alliance, expand the Abraham Accords, grow US-India cooperation, and delve deeply into regional energy, economic, and security issues.”
“I look forward to working with President Trump and my colleagues to deter the Islamic Republic of Iran, stamp down the terror threat, and realize his vision for a more peaceful Middle East,” he mentioned. “I am hopeful my background and perspective will allow me to lead this subcommittee in a manner that is good for Pennsylvania and the country.”
The panel, which was headed up by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) over the past Trump administration, oversees US coverage within the area, in addition to its posture towards worldwide organizations just like the United Nations.
Particularly, it focuses on “terrorism and non-proliferation,” “crime and illicit narcotics,” “US foreign assistance programs” and “the promotion of US trade and exports.”
Iran and its proxies have escalated battle within the area all through President Biden’s time period, with Hamas killing 1,200 Israelis and 46 People in an Oct. 7, 2023, bloodbath in Israel — the deadliest day for the Jewish folks because the Holocaust — that instantly erupted right into a struggle within the Gaza Strip.
Final 12 months, the US deployed hundreds extra troops in addition to fighter jets and ships to the Center East and later engaged in direct strikes on Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen to discourage a broader regional struggle.
Earlier than the 2024 election, hackers from an Iranian paramilitary group additionally focused Trump’s marketing campaign and tried to leak delicate communications to Biden aides in an effort to tank the Republican’s candidacy.
Moreover, the US Secret Service disclosed earlier than Election Day that brokers had additionally been alerted to the specter of a “possible drone attack” by Tehran on the forty fifth president — greater than a 12 months forward of the first assassination try in opposition to Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13.
On the marketing campaign path, McCormick steadily slammed his Democratic opponent, three-term Sen. Bob Casey, and Biden for his or her “weakness” within the face of Iranian aggression and mounting international conflicts, particularly criticizing the president’s order to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan.
The previous hedge fund supervisor additionally faulted each of them for supporting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal throughout the Obama administration, permitting Tehran to rake in billions of {dollars} in oil income as a consequence of relaxed sanctions.
“The original sin is Iran,” he mentioned at a roundtable with The Submit and different reporters in Harrisburg, Pa., final September. “Senator Casey was the deciding vote on that Iran deal, which has underwritten terror.”
McCormick, a staunch pro-Israel candidate, returned from a go to to the Jewish state in January 2024, declaring that his eyewitness expertise “reinforced the need to absolutely eradicate Hamas.”
“You can’t live. You can’t sit in your backyard and look 600 meters across the cornfield and think that you can live side-by-side with people and a terrorist organization that can undertake such a horrific genocidal campaign,” he advised The Instances of Israel.
As a retired Military captain, his powerful discuss on terrorism — in addition to exploding antisemitism on faculty campuses within the US — was seemingly vital in securing way more of the Jewish vote than beforehand achieved for a Republican within the swing state of Pennsylvania.
McCormick was additionally accompanied on the journey to Israel by his spouse, Dina Powell, the previous deputy nationwide safety adviser throughout the first Trump administration, serving to to achieve the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between the Jewish state and Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
The Pennsylvania Republican may even sit on the subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and Worldwide Cybersecurity Coverage in addition to the subcommittee on Multilateral Worldwide Improvement, Multilateral Establishments, and Worldwide Financial, Vitality, and Environmental Coverage.
The newly-elected senator has indicated he’s additionally trying ahead to working throughout the aisle with Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, saying earlier this month that the 2 had dinner with their wives and talked about how “to best serve” their state.
“From stopping the spread of fentanyl, to fighting antisemitism & supporting Israel, & providing the best constituent services for the people of our commonwealth,” McCormick mentioned of their dialog.
Fetterman additionally advised the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that the 2 had a “great discussion” and had been able to get to work confirming a few of Trump’s nominees — together with US ambassador to the UN designee, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who has denounced the worldwide physique as a “den of antisemitism.”
Earlier than operating for workplace, McCormick served because the CEO of Bridgewater Associates. He may even sit on the Banking, Housing and City Affairs Committee and the Joint Financial Committee.
