The dress code disagreement seems inconsequential but could it raise larger questions?
As the country barrels toward yet another government shutdown, lawmakers are currently arguing about their…wardrobes. You read that right: The politicians representing this country can’t agree on what not to wear. Someone call fashion cop Stacy London. On Sunday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate wouldn’t enforce a dress code on the chamber floor, leaving some Republicans outraged.
Nearly every GOP senator called the top Democrat imploring him to reverse course over concerns that the action shows a lack of respect for Congress. (There were some notable exceptions, though, including Senators Katie Boyd Britt, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Josh Hawley.) “Allowing casual clothing on the Senate floor disrespects the institution we serve and the American families we represent,” they wrote in a letter to Schumer on Tuesday.
So, naturally, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about and why the Senate decided to change the dress code now. More on that below, plus the lawmaker who likely drove the shift in dress.
How are lawmakers reacting to Schumer’s dress code comment?
Schumer said senators “can choose what they wear on the Senate floor,” though he added that he will continue to wear a suit.
In response, Republican Sen. Susan Collins joked about wearing a bikini to work. “I think there is a certain dignity that we should be maintaining in the Senate, and to do away with the dress code, to me, debases the institution,” she said.
Other conservatives have railed against the change, too. “Senator Schumer has done everything he can to destroy the traditions of the Senate,” said GOP Senator John Cornyn. “It’s another indication he doesn’t respect the Senate as an institution.” (The irony is that he was recently spotted wearing a burnt orange T-shirt emblazoned with the Texas Longhorns logo while visiting Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s office.)
But it wasn’t just Republicans who were upset with the decision. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown was one of the few Democratic senators who spoke out against the dress code change but for very different reasons. He pointed out it doesn’t apply to other staff members who work in the chamber: “If we are allowed to dress casually, they should be allowed to dress casually. To me, it’s a dignity of work issue.”
Meanwhile, some are already embracing the change: Hawley reportedly arrived at the Senate in boots and jeans after returning from a trip home to Missouri, according to the AP. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy also ditched his tie, noting that he’d been reprimanded for doing so in the past.
Does the Senate have a dress code?
There are 44 standing rules of the Senate — and none of them establish a formal dress code. But there is a sergeant at arms who’s elected by senators and acts as a protocol officer and law enforcement. This person enforces some informal rules that lawmakers have abided by for the past 20 years. For instance, men previously customarily wore jackets and ties, while women wore business casual dresses or pantsuits.
But some of these customs seemed outdated if not sexist. Up until recently, there was also a long-held rule that women must cover their shoulders in a hallway outside the House floor. In 2017, then-GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan finally relaxed the rules to allow women to wear sleeveless dresses and open-toed shoes following complaints from dozens of congresswomen.
The Senate’s traditional attire also didn’t seem all that welcoming to other cultures. Former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who served from 1993 to 2005, had to receive special permission to wear his customary bolo tie on the Senate floor in honor of his Native American heritage.
Why is the Senate relaxing the dress code?
The Senate’s dress code change seems to have largely come to accommodate Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, though Schumer didn’t mention him by name. The first-term senator has been known to wear oversized sweatshirts and basketball shorts ever since returning to work last spring after treatment for clinical depression.
Now Fetterman won’t have to worry about voting from doorways or by sticking his head inside the chambers to avoid getting in trouble for his more casual attire. He can even preside over the chamber if he so pleases in whatever he chooses to wear.
But it’s probably no surprise that the lawmaker’s getting much of the backlash in response to the dress code change — which he has been taking in stride. “Oh my God!” Fetterman told a reporter sarcastically on Tuesday about the Senate’s wardrobe drama. “I think it will be OK. The Republicans think I’m going to burst through the doors and start break dancing on the floor in shorts.”
Is this the end of the dress code?
Some experts said the Senate’s decision to relax its dress code is reflective of a wider shift toward more casual wear following the COVID-19 pandemic when most people worked from home.
“It’s simply acknowledged that the norms of professional dress have changed,” Richard Thompson Ford, author of Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History, told USA Today.
But it does potentially beg some larger questions, such as whether these larger formalities even matter in the first place. Some seem to certainly think so: “A lot of working-class people across this country respect this building. They’re frustrated by it, but they respect it and I think the dress code should reflect that,” said GOP Senator J.D. Vance.
Others say the pushback against the dress code drama is hypocritical at best. In response to GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calling the Senate dress code change “distasteful,” Fetterman pointed to her move to show oversized nude photos of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, engaged in sex acts during a recent House committee hearing.
“Thankfully, the nation’s lower chamber lives by a higher code of conduct: displaying ding-a-ling pics in a public hearing,” he said.
