US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Secretly Ditches Senate’s Informal Dress Code
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has secretly changed the Senate’s informal dress code enabling the American senators to wear whatever they want on the floor. According to Axios, the surprising update will go into effect this week and the change will apply to only Senators. Staff members will still be required to follow the old dress code. The new directive came after Sen. John Fetterman received backlash for wearing a hoodie on the Senate floor.
An insider source told Axios that Schumer sent out notice to his colleagues late Friday. For time immemorial, the Senate has operated with an informal dress code enforced by the sergeant-at-arms. The code requires men and women to dress only in business attire on the Senate floor. However, the code is not a formal and written policy. According to NBC News, in the past, Senators were spotted walking the Senate floor while wearing gym clothes, golf attire, denim vests, shoes without socks, etc.
A move that benefits John Fetterman
According to Axios, the move will allow Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman to come in casuals. Fetterman, who was elected last year, initially followed the rule of wearing business attire. However, since he returned to the Senate after being treated for clinical depression, he has frequently sported the casual look. In May this year, the Pennsylvania senator was criticised for weaning a hoodie, gym shorts and sneakers to the chamber. “John Fetterman’s attire in the Senate perfectly summarises Democrats’ lack of respect for Americans and our institutions,” Conservative Comedian Tim Young wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,” Schumer said at the time of the whole debacle.
Meanwhile, similar requests were made in the US House of Representatives. In 2017, then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan asked the House Sergeant at Arms to “modernise” the lower chamber’s dress code. “Before I yield back, I want to point out I’m standing here in my professional attire, which happens to be a sleeveless dress and open-toed shoes,” then-Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) said at one point on the House floor at the time when women wearing sleeveless attire to the lower chamber became a matter of debate. However, things were not the same in the past, Rep. John Boehner was known as a strict enforcer of the old House dress code when he was the speaker of the House from 2011 to 2015. “Members should wear appropriate attire during all sittings of the House, however brief their appearances on the floor maybe. You know who you are,” Boehner remarked in 2015.
