Some changes that are going into effect this week in the U.S. Senate are upsetting some Republicans with conservative values!
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has directed the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms to no longer enforce the unwritten dress code in the senate chamber.
“Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,” Schumer said.
Under the previous rules, senators fresh off a plane or from the gym could circumvent the dress code by voting from the edge of the Senate floor, with one foot still in the cloakroom. They could hold their thumb up or down to indicate their vote and then step back out of the chamber. Technically, they weren’t considered to be in violation of the floor’s dress code.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and other senators have voted this way.
But of course, Fetterman is the target of accusations that the rule was changed in order to accomodate his informal dress, often shorts and a hoodie.
Senator Fetterman Coming in Hot on the Topic
Senator Fetterman’s communications director also made light of the conspiracy theory that festered after Fetterman’s stroke in 2022.
The change will not affect staffers who will still be required to follow the dress code, which includes a jacket and tie for men.
Five years ago, Sen. Amy Klobuchar petitioned for a more relaxed dress code that would allow female senators to show bare arms.
Other senators at times have been seen on the Senate floor wearing gym clothes, golf attire, denim vests, shoes without socks and colorful wigs.