Senators will now be able to wear gym shorts and hoodies on the Senate floor, but all non-members entering the upper chamber will still be required to adhere to the previous dress code.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that the U.S. Senate will no longer enforce its unwritten dress code, which required male senators to wear a jacket and tie on the Senate floor, and female senators to dress in business attire.
“Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor,” Schumer said in a statement to Axios.
The change is widely considered a concession to Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who often wears shorts and a hoodie. According to The Associated Press, Fetterman has been previously observed voting from the doorway of the party cloakroom or the side entrance before ducking out.
Fetterman told Fox News that he does not know “why the right side seems to be losing their minds over” the change in dress code.
“I feel it’s a little more freedom, which should be bipartisanship,” Fetterman said.
In response to the change, numerous Senate Republicans called on Schumer to enforce the Senate’s previous dress code.
Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis referred to Fetterman’s attire as “the very sloppiest that a person would dress even if they’re going to a gym by themselves.”
“The Senate is degraded. It’s debased. It should not be typical of how we dress when we go to the floor of the United States Senate,” Lummis said.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall called the change “an embarrassment.”
“The people of Kansas don’t want me showing up in a hoodie,” Marshall said. “Out of respect, we should have some sense of decorum here.”
In an opinion piece for CNN, Harry Enten claimed the move was simply part of a cultural shift.
“While some have decried the move, the truth is that the Senate is just following the trends toward less formal attire that we’re seeing throughout the workforce,” Enten wrote.
Schumer said that he will continue to wear a suit on the Senate floor.
