CV NEWS FEED // In what has been dubbed the “Fetterman Rule,” the U.S. Senate under the directive of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, eliminated its longstanding dress code.
The rule has been named for its rumored inspiration, Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA. The freshman senator is known for his unconventional wardrobe: he usually dresses in sneakers, gym shorts, a T-shirt, and a hoodie.
“Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor,” Schumer said when he announced the new rule. “I will continue to wear a suit.”
FOX News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram reported on Sunday that while senators now have the option to wear outfits of their choice, all other people who enter the chamber, including staff, must comply with the former dress code.
“Typical. Rules for thee, but not for me,” an X (formerly known as Twitter) user replied to Pergram’s post. “It should be the motto of the U.S. federal government.”
A number of senators ridiculed Schumer’s new rule.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, joked that she was going to “wear a bikini” in the chamber.
“Obviously, I’m not going to wear a bikini,” she later said, illustrating that her point was that she now “could.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-MO, took to X to jokingly ask his colleague Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, if he would wear “jorts and a tank top” to work following the rule change.
Cruz responded by posting a GIF of actor Jack Black as the shirtless main character in the comedy film “Nacho Libre.”
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the rule, asking: “Did you guys hear the U.S. Senate just eliminated its dress code because you got this guy from Pennsylvania who’s got a lot of problems?”
“He wears, like, sweatshirts and hoodies and shorts,” DeSentis wrote of Fetterman. “We need to be lifting up our standards in this country, not dumbing down.”
