This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s partnership with NOTUS, a nonpartisan news organization that covers government and politics with the fresh eyes of early career journalists and the expertise of veteran reporters.
A former Wall Street CEO sporting tailored suits and a tattooed politician uniformed in Carhartt hoodies and gym shorts don’t seem like a natural political pair. But Pennsylvania Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman have forged a rare bipartisan partnership in a divided Congress.
The Republican and Democrat from a politically important purple state represent one of only three split states by party in the Senate. They have sponsored bills and booked joint media appearances in recent months.
“We’re very, very good friends, and we get along, and we always try to find ways to work together,” Fetterman told NOTUS. “Pennsylvania deserves that. And you know, we both realize that we don’t just represent our respective base. We represent all 13 million Pennsylvanians, and that’s why we find ways to work together.”
Their joint legislative efforts have focused on federal coordination to combat drug trafficking, condemning antisemitism, and supporting federal projects in their state since McCormick arrived in the Senate in early 2025.
McCormick told NOTUS that he considers Fetterman a mentor and has turned to him throughout his early days in the Senate.
“I think he has very little appetite for, you know, the political nastiness and game playing,” McCormick said. “I don’t have a lot of appetite for that either. I try to be very respectful, even when I disagree with people, so I give him a lot of credit. He’s been a real role model.”
They’ve made and lost bets with fellow senators –– delivering Pennsylvania sandwiches to their colleagues from Texas to pay up on a football wager in January. McCormick said Fetterman even taught his Republican counterpart a new meaning to a familiar word.
“He said, ‘Listen, in this upcoming campaign, things are going to get spicy, but it’s nothing personal,’” McCormick said of a conversation the pair had when they first met in 2024. “And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ I didn’t know what that meant.”
Despite their differences, the odd couple has attracted praise from their Senate colleagues.
“Look, if every Republican and Democrat got along as well as John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, it would be great for the country,” Sen. Jon Husted told NOTUS.
Husted, who represents neighboring Ohio, told NOTUS that the pair’s working relationship should serve as a guidepost for the entire upper chamber. Even for senators who disagree on key policy, the duo represents proof that members can find common ground.
Other Republican senators pointed to the Pennsylvania pair’s willingness to speak highly of one another in public.
“It’s always good when what happens on a regular basis here is highlighted,” Sen. Mike Rounds told NOTUS. “In the Senate, bipartisan activity goes on all the time, but that doesn’t necessarily make the news. When it does make the news, it’s a good thing because it tells the American people you may disagree on topics, but that doesn’t mean that you’re enemies.”
Rounds added that the McCormick-Fetterman friendship is a good reminder that the Senate isn’t just about partisan bickering. Their collaboration shows voters that the body really is focused on getting things done, he said.
“The American people sent us here to get things done,” Rounds said. “We come from different parts of the country, differing political philosophies, but we’re still all Americans. The fact that both of those two members of the United States Senate from Pennsylvania can publicly work together on projects is a good thing.”
Fetterman said the senators share a similar approach to politics. He said they have a policy of refraining from the “mudslinging” that other politicians engage in.
“We always try to find ways to work together, and we’re not going to be attacking or going after each other,” Fetterman said. “We don’t call people names. More people can appreciate or see that.”
Fetterman’s tenure since he was elected in 2022 has been tumultuous, both personally and politically. He suffered a stroke during his campaign that impacted his speech and was hospitalized for clinical depression for several weeks in 2023.
McCormick has been an ardent defender of his Democratic counterpart. After former staffers expressed concerns about Fetterman’s fitness for office in April, McCormick was one of the first senators to weigh in, issuing a public statement of support.
“While we have many differences, we are both committed to working together to achieve results for the people of Pennsylvania and make their lives better,” McCormick wrote on X. “He is authentic, decent, principled, and a fighter. These disgraceful smears against him are not the John that I know and respect.”
Fetterman said he has appreciated McCormick’s defense of his character.
“It’s kind of rare,” Fetterman said. “But we both have a commitment to work together whenever it’s possible and to disagree in a very respectful way.”
Fetterman said the two have often found more in common than differences. At a June forum with Fox News, they discussed their support for Israel, U.S. steel and immigration and found themselves agreeing on most of the issues.
Fetterman has drawn some flack from within his party for his willingness to work and vote with Republicans in recent months. He was one of a few Senate Democrats who consistently broke with leadership to vote to end the longest-lasting government shutdown in the fall and voted with Republicans to confirm several of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Fetterman’s political future also remains unclear. The senator seems to be leaving all doors open as he mulls reelection or retirement and considers a run for president. Some Democratic groups in Pennsylvania are already plotting a challenger for Fetterman in 2028, while a former staffer told NOTUS in November that Fetterman had discussed a run for president back in 2023.
McCormick said he particularly appreciates that Fetterman has been willing to share the spotlight with his newbie Republican counterpart.
“We were in a restaurant in Pittsburgh, and people were lined up at the table to get a selfie with [Fetterman],” McCormick said. “Everybody recognizes him, and he was embarrassed. At some point, he finally said, ‘Hey, he’s a senator too,’ pointing to me. Nobody knew who the hell I was.”
McCormick doesn’t have the same kind of internal issues with his party. According to the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, McCormick has voted 100% with the Trump administration. But Democratic senators still had positive things to say about Fetterman and McCormick’s working relationship.
Sen. Andy Kim, whose state of New Jersey also neighbors Pennsylvania, said he has worked with McCormick on a number of regional issues, including cleaning up the Delaware River.
“I’ve been working to get to know and build relations with both Sen. Fetterman and Sen. McCormick because I live just 15 minutes from the Pennsylvania border,” Kim said.
Kim added that it is important for every member in the upper chamber to get to know one another as people. Senators can almost always find places to agree on issues that affect their regions, he added.
Kim said he has been in conversations with McCormick’s office on a number of regional projects the pair could pursue in the future, including investment in shipbuilding.
“One thing I was heartened by is when I came here, there is a real expectation that we get to know all 99 other senators,” Kim added. “That is not an expectation that the House has. I’ve really invested in that, and I think it’s important for us to have.”
Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis echoed Kim. She cosponsored a bill regulating home repairs with Fetterman and said getting to know senators on the other side is the only way to move things forward in the upper chamber.
Senators have more in common than what separates them, she added.
“I never hesitate to work across the aisle,” Lummis said. “It’s the only way to get things done in the Senate. What you find is, if you work with people on the other side, you probably agree on more than half of what’s going on around here. Probably quite a bit more than half.”
Fetterman said the pair’s responsibility to represent a politically diverse state is what allows them to work together. He said regional issues can help senators from opposing parties find areas to work together.
“A lot of the noise is coming from people from the extreme or the very deep red or blue states,” Fetterman said. “We occupy a space in between where we have to find a way to remember that we are both Pennsylvania’s voice from different parties.”
McCormick echoed that analysis.
“We look so much different, we have such different backgrounds, we’re from such different parties, we just have so many differences,” McCormick said. “But we’re together on the most important thing, which is we trust each other, and we want to do good things for Pennsylvania.”