End of US Senate dress code draws Republican mockery: ‘I’ll wear a bikini’
- The dropping of an unwritten jacket-and-tie requirement is seen by some as a special deal for Democrat John Fetterman, known for his love of shorts and hoodies
- Both the US House and Senate have in recent years relaxed rules to allow women to wear sleeveless dresses
Critics warn decorum is falling apart at the seams in the US Senate after the Democratic leadership changed the rules to end the old requirement on wearing a jacket and tie in the tradition-bound chamber.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Senate Sergeant at Arms that the chamber’s unwritten dress code need no longer be enforced.
The relaxed attire rule applies to all of the chamber’s lawmakers, but the switch was seen as a special deal for Democratic Senator John Fetterman, whose love of shorts and hoodies has turned dress-down Friday into dress-down every day.
Fetterman’s dress style, or perhaps lack of style, became his signature on the campaign trail before entering the Senate this year. He also gained sympathy from many after he had to undergo treatment for clinical depression soon after taking office.
Schumer said senators will be able to wear what they want, even if “I will continue to wear a suit”.
