Manchin’s resolution to reverse new Senate dress code calls for business attire: Report

The petition Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has reportedly been circulating to reverse the recent relaxation of the Senate dress code calls for men to wear a coat, tie, and long pants on the Senate floor, according to a new report.

Manchin has been circulating the petition after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) directed the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms to stop enforcing the formal dress code traditionally upheld in the upper chamber earlier this month. “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,” Schumer said in a statement regarding the move.

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Fetterman’s usual uniform is the likely inspiration for this move, as the senator—who suffered a stroke during his 2022 campaign and received recent inpatient treatment for clinical depression—has frequently been voting from the edge of the Senate floor, holding a thumbs up or down to indicate his vote.

But not all Democrats are in agreement with the move. Manchin, for one, has been courting colleagues for their support of the “Show Our Respect To the Senate Resolution,” or the SHORTS resolution. The measure is reportedly two pages long and, according to Politico, only mentions male senators.

Per Politico, the petition states, “business attire be worn on the floor of the Senate, which for men shall include a coat, tie, and slacks or other long pants; and.” The outlet said nothing follows the word “and.”

Further, the SHORTS resolution would require the Sergeant at Arms to enforce the dress code, and in order to revise the code, a vote of two-thirds would be needed.

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Other Democrats have expressed concerns over the dress code change as well. “I’m concerned about it,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said recently. “The senator in question from Pennsylvania is a personal friend, but I think we need to have standards when it comes to what we’re wearing on the floor of the Senate. And we’re in the process of discussing that right now as to what those standards will be.”

Manchin’s office did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner regarding the petition.