Fetterman, amid dress code controversy, agrees to wear suit to ‘save democracy,’ avoid shutdown

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in a crude statement, agreed to wear a suit on the Senate floor to “save democracy” amid bipartisan displeasure over Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer’s decision to relax the Senate dress code.

But Fetterman’s offer comes with conditions. He said House Republicans must pass a government funding bill and support Ukraine in order for him to suit up.

“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 Wednesday in a post on X.

Fetterman is at the center of a controversy over standards and respect for the Senate as an institution, after Schumer stopped enforcing the Senate dress code to accommodate his refusal to wear a suit. The Pennsylvania Democrat is rarely ever seen in business attire, and is often seen in the Capitol wearing his trademark hoodie, or a loose-fitting shirt and gym shorts. 

TOP DEMOCRAT BREAKS WITH SCHUMER ON SENATE DRESS CODE

Schumer announced the rules change on Monday, saying, “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit.”

Fetterman has celebrated the dress code change and mocked Republicans who are outraged that Schumer would change the Senate dress code. 

However, top Democrats have also spoken out against the change, with Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., breaking from Schumer in a Sirius XM interview. 

“I’m concerned about it. You know, the senator in question from Pennsylvania is a personal friend,” Durbin told SiriusXM host Steve Scully in a clip from “The Briefing with Steve Scully,” which is set to air in full on Friday, 

“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 said.

REPUBLICAN SENATORS SLAM RELAXED DRESS CODE, DEMAND SCHUMER REVERSE CHANGES

“I can’t understand exactly what [Schumer] was thinking at that point,” he continued. “I want to give him the benefit of the doubt until I speak to him, but I think the Senate needs to act on this.”

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Action could come soon. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is reportedly circulating a proposal to restore the Senate’s dress code amid bipartisan displeasure with Schumer’s decision to stop enforcing it. Manchin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

An unnamed senator who signed the proposal told The Hill it would return the Senate dress code to what it was last week before Schumer made the change to accommodate Fetterman.

“I’ve signed it,” the senator said, explaining it would “define what the dress code is,” according to The Hill.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told the outlet that the bipartisan group of senators backing the proposal is “the coalition of the rational.” 

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