U.S. Conservative Lawmaker Bets on 'AI and Housing'... Buys Microsoft and Home Depot

According to a March 7 filing of U.S. House financial disclosures (local time), Republican Representative Rich McCormick of Georgia purchased several large-cap blue-chip stocks—including Microsoft and Home Depot—on March 19. Each transaction ranged from $1,001 to $15,000 (approximately ₩1.5 million to ₩20 million), and Microsoft and Home Depot were each reported twice, resulting in maximum exposure of about $30,000 (around ₩40 million) per company.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is a leading big-tech name in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and holds major government and defense contracts such as the Department of Defense’s Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC). This year, concerns over heavy AI infrastructure investment and reliance on OpenAI have driven MSFT down about 23% in 2026, marking its worst quarterly performance since 2008. On January 29, immediately after its earnings release, investors learned that OpenAI accounts for 45% of Microsoft’s commercial cloud backlog—news that erased roughly $400 billion in market capitalization in a single day. Despite this volatility, Microsoft’s earnings and cash-flow remain strong, and most analysts maintain a “Buy” rating, suggesting that McCormick viewed the sell-off as a buy-the-dip opportunity.

Home Depot, Inc. (HD) is North America’s largest home-improvement retailer and building-materials distributor. In recent years, it has shifted its focus from DIY customers to professional contractors, or “Pro” clients. Although a slowing U.S. housing market and weaker consumer spending have pressured Home Depot’s shares, they have declined only about 2% over the past year. On March 20, however, a broad downturn in the consumer-discretionary sector and valuation concerns pushed HD down 3.08% to roughly $320—its 52-week low. With no clear company-specific setbacks but widespread economic uncertainty and consumer-spending fears weighing on the price, McCormick’s staggered purchases are consistent with a defensive consumer-stocks strategy, banking on dividend growth and long-term profitability.

A former emergency-medicine physician, McCormick serves on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology Committees, and chairs the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, giving him influence over defense, technology, and AI policy. Because Microsoft is a key supplier for the DoD’s JWCC cloud initiative, his ownership of Microsoft shares could reignite conflict-of-interest concerns as Congress reviews defense IT budgets and AI/cyber-security regulations. McCormick is also known as a fiscal conservative who has publicly advocated cutting mandatory spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. His investments in large tech and consumer stocks may prompt criticism that he is “Wall Street-friendly but welfare-cold.” With a bipartisan bill under discussion to ban lawmakers from trading individual equities—and over 80% of Americans supporting such a ban—even relatively modest disclosures like this one may serve as further evidence in the debate over regulating congressional stock investing.