The shorts were short-lived.
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that requires members to follow a dress code that will include a coat, tie, and slacks for men, ending controversy triggered over Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman displaying his casual style on the floor.
“Though we’ve never had an official dress code, the events over the past week have made us all feel as though formalizing one is the right path forward,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “I deeply appreciate Senator Fetterman working with me to come to an agreement that we all find acceptable, and of course I appreciate Sen. Manchin and Sen. Romney’s leadership on this issue.”
The issue of a Senate dress code first came up after Schumer directed the Senate’s sergeant at arms to stop enforcing the unofficial dress code earlier this month. The rule-change primarily impacted Fetterman, who had previously been casting votes from the cloakroom in shorts and a hoodie but not stepping onto the Senate floor in his signature casual look.
www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/john-fetterman-dress-code-senate-suite-20230927.html
SENATE PASSES MANCHIN, ROMNEY BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION TO REINSTATE SENATE DRESS CODE
Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate passed U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) bipartisan resolution that would reinstate the business attire dress code on the Senate floor. The Senate passed the resolution by unanimous consent.
“For 234 years, every Senator that has had the honor of serving in this distinguished body has assumed there were some basic written rules of decorum, conduct and civility, one of which was a dress code. Just over a week ago, we all learned that there were not – in fact – any written rules about what Senators could and could not wear on the floor of the Senate. So Senator Romney and I got together and we thought maybe it’s time that we finally codify something that was the precedented rule for 234 years. We drafted this simple two-page resolution that’ll put all of this to bed once and for all, by codifying the long-standing practice into a Senate Rule and making it very clear for the sergeant of arms to enforce,” Senator Manchin said in part during his speech on the Senate floor.