The Honorable Mike McCord was sworn in as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer on June 1, 2021. He is the first person to be confirmed twice for this position.

Immediately prior to his confirmation he served as the Director, Civil-Military Programs at the Stennis Center for Public Service, as an adjunct researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aerospace Corporation. In 2017, he was appointed to the congressionally mandated Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States, which released its report Providing for the Common Defense in November 2018.

From January 2009 through January 2017 he served at the U.S. Department of Defense as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer and before that as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for each of these positions. In these roles he advised Secretaries of Defense Bob Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel and Ash Carter on all budgetary and financial matters and was responsible for development and execution of annual defense budgets in excess of $550 billion.

Prior to his service at the Department of Defense, Mr. McCord served for 24 years in the legislative branch, including 21 years as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) for former Senators and Chairmen Sam Nunn and Carl Levin. As a member of the Senate staff his primary focus was on budget, fiscal policy, and military readiness and installation issues. Mr. McCord also served on the staff of the House Budget Committee as an analyst on defense and veterans programs, and as a cost analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.

Mr. McCord has a B.A. with honors in Economics from the Ohio State University and a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Congressman Rob Wittman was first elected to the United States Congress to serve Virginia’s First Congressional District in 2007. While in office, he has focused on strengthening our military and supporting our nation’s veterans, promoting a flourishing economy through fiscal responsibility and pro-growth policies, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, increasing access to high-speed internet, and promoting workforce development through Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs.

In the U.S. Congress, Congressman Wittman serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, where he is well-positioned to represent the needs of Virginia's First District. He has earned a strong reputation for being an advocate for our men and women in uniform and for being a champion of the Chesapeake Bay.

On the Armed Services Committee, Congressman Wittman serves as vice chairman of the full committee and the chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. On the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, Congressman Wittman oversees the largest portfolio of modernization programs on the House Armed Services Committee, with vast ramifications for the future of the U.S. military’s ground and air forces and munitions stockpiles. Congressman Wittman also serves on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As co-chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, he is a staunch advocate for a robust naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry. He also currently serves on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.

As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Congressman Wittman serves on both the Energy and Minerals Subcommittee, as well as the Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee, where he brings his professional expertise in water quality, fisheries, and other natural resource issues. He is a proud champion of the Chesapeake Bay for its environmental and economic attributes and has introduced legislation that will increase the accountability and effectiveness of cleaning up the bay. He serves as co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus, which brings the bay’s issues into focus for Members of Congress.

As a co-chair of the House Rural Broadband Caucus, Congressman Wittman is leading the way to bring high-speed internet to the unserved areas of the First District and the nation. His Serving Rural America Act served as a model for the NTIA Broadband Infrastructure Program, a $288 million funding program for partnerships between localities and providers of fixed broadband service to support broadband deployment. His other infrastructure priorities include deepening and widening the Port of Virginia, easing congestion on I-95, improving traffic and safety concerns along I-64, improving and expanding the Long Bridge, expanding the capacity of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and providing sustainable funding mechanisms to Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA).

Congressman Wittman was re-elected for his eighth full term in the House of Representatives in November 2022 and prior to that, he served in several levels of government. Congressman Wittman won his first campaign for public office in 1986 when he was elected to the Montross Town Council, where he served for 10 years, four of them as mayor. In 1995, he was elected to the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors and was elected its chairman in 2003. In 2005, voters in the 99th Legislative District elected Rob to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007.

Prior to his election to Congress, Rob spent 26 years working in state government, most recently as field director for the Virginia Health Department's Division of Shellfish Sanitation. Earlier in his career, he worked as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia's Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions.

He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.