Fetterman says he’ll wear suit while addressing Senate and vote from cloakroom otherwise: Report

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said he would wear a suit while speaking on the Senate floor or presiding over the chamber after heavy pushback from other members of Congress for his usual gym shorts and hoodie attire.

Fetterman will vote from the cloakroom, the space adjacent to the Senate chamber where members meet to discuss business, if he is not wearing a suit, according to Punchbowl on Wednesday.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to relax the Senate dress code came a little over a week ago, and it sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers who believe their colleagues shouldn’t be allowed to wear casual attire on the Senate floor.

Fetterman’s reported pledge comes after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has supposedly been planning a bipartisan resolution to reinstate the Senate’s dress code, circulating the petition this week. According to Politico, the document, called the SHow Our Respect To the Senate Resolution, or the SHORTS resolution, only mentions male senators.

The Pennsylvania Democrat has been at the center of the dress code controversy for his casual uniform. Fetterman announced that he’d wear a suit on the Senate floor if Congress passes legislation needed to renew funding by the deadline and avert a government shutdown.

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“If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week,” Fetterman said last week in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The dress codes in Congress have changed over the years. There is no written dress code that requires men and women senators to wear business attire. Forty-six Republican senators, nearly every GOP member in the chamber, called for Schumer to reinstate the unwritten dress code in a letter last week.