Following Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s directive, senators are no longer required to wear suits and ties in the once-formal upper chamber.
According to reports, he made the adjustment by instructing the Senate Sergeant at Arms to no longer enforce the dress code. Schumer said in a statement that Senators are allowed to pick what they will wear on the Senate floor, but he planned to keep wearing suits.
Senator John Fetterman appreciates the newfound freedom to wear sweatpants and sweatshirts to work. The Pennsylvania Democrat wore suits and ties when he first entered politics, but he soon began to dress slobbish.
Reports indicate the clothes Fetterman wears have already sparked controversy. He wore a white sweatshirt, sweatpants, and shoes to a May meeting with fellow Democrat senators to debate the debt limit. Most of his coworkers wore business attire.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of the Republican Party wrote on X that Fetterman reinvented Casual Friday on a Thursday. She said it is unprofessional to show up dressed like that for any job, much less one in which only 100 individuals are chosen at random to serve. There’s really no good reason for it.
Only senators will be affected by the new rule. The traditional dress code remains in effect for reporters and staff members.
A report reveals that the Senate’s official dress code may not have been codified anywhere in the rules.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has called on the Senate to undo Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to cease enforcing the dress code.
The Democrat majority whip publicly disagreed with the party’s leader by expressing alarm about the loosened requirements, which were believed lowered to accommodate Fetterman, who dislikes suits in favor of baggy hoodies, shirts, and gym shorts.
While Schumer previously stated that he would continue to wear suits despite his right to alter the way he dresses, Fetterman seems to have taken this directive to heart.
