Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is circulating a proposal to reestablish the Senate’s dress code, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) loosened over the weekend to allow senators to wear whatever they want on the Senate floor, according to senators familiar with the proposal.

One person familiar with the resolution said it would essentially return the Senate dress code to what it was last week, which required senators to wear coats and ties or business attire when on the Senate floor.

“I’ve signed it,” said one senator, who explained it would “define what the dress code is.”

Schumer’s decision appeared aimed at catering to first-term Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), whose hoodie was a signature look on the campaign trail in 2022 and who wore a dark short-sleeved collared shirt and dark shorts to work Thursday.

But the decision to loosen the dress code is getting bipartisan pushback, including from Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), who says the Senate should have standards.

“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,” Durbin told “The Briefing with Steve Scully” on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel.

“I think the Senate needs to act on this,” Durbin said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) described the bipartisan group of senators who want to restore the Senate dress code “the coalition of the rational.”

Cornyn said a Senate resolution will allow “other senators to speak” on the need for a dress code and predicted it will come to the floor.

“It’s just ridiculous that we should have to conform the dress code to the lowest common denominator,” he said.

    • theotherone@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      It bothers me that he is trying to dunk on his own leadership. Why? Just to call attention to a perceived failing. What a douche.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It bothers me that he is trying to dunk on his own leadership.

        He knows he is the party leadership.

  • Any Senator that thinks this deserves any attention at all prior to passing budget and avoiding or more likely ending a shutdown is unfit for their office. Worrying over what your coworkers are wearing instead of dealing with an eminent crisis demonstrates poor judgement and an inability to properly prioritize your duties. If something like this does reach a vote before a budget is in place for the next fiscal year I would hope a majority of Senators would vote present in protest of the body’s failure to act in the best interests of the nation.

    • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Is there much the Senate can do right now about that? Doesn’t it have to pass the House first, then it comes to them? Seems like they’re killing time until it’s their turn.

    • jscummy@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      These are our elected leaders, who could be working on reforming education, building infrastructure, improving healthcare or any number of policy goals that help the American people and better the country as a whole. And instead they’re bickering about a fucking dress code, all while the government is facing an impending shutdown.

      I’ve said it before, can’t remember about what but it’s sad that it needs to be repeating.

  • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    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

  • HWK_290@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m glad the senate is weighing in on matters of such importance. I look forward to their continued leadership in, oh, about 9 days…

    • Kraven_the_Hunter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Bipartisanship is back, and all it took was a hoodie!

      Now can we please get back to burning the rest of our governments institutions to the ground already?

  • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    I’ve heard a lot of insults about Fetterman, but “lowest common denominator” is just plain disrespectful

  • TheaoneAndOnly27@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I couldn’t care less if they all showed up fucking naked. This new political theater is just so fucking stupid. Do your fucking job and I don’t care how you dress.

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m glad that with all the monumental problems facing us right now, we’ve got our priorities in the right place.