Talking hoodies and shorts as a federal shutdown looms

Congress is careening toward a government shutdown. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is no longer required to wear a suit on the Senate floor.

Far-right members of the U.S. House are demanding deep budget cuts in exchange for supporting a funding measure to avoid a shutdown. They want cuts in low-income housing assistance and heating assistance, just as we approach winter. One million mothers with children will be placed on a waitlist for nutrition help.

Sounds important. But did you see Fetterman in a baggy shirt, sometimes a hoodie, and shorts on the Senate floor. Will no one stop the madness?

"I think it's going to devalue the Senate as an institution," Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday about relaxing the dress code, according to the Des Moines Register. "And it's going to lead to further things that detract from the decorum of the United States Senate."

I hate to be the one to tell you, senator, that ship has sailed. The institution was damaged plenty when Grassley refused to even consider then President Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016.

Do you remember that time in 2021 when former President Donald Trump unleashed a mob on the U.S. Capitol, breaching the Senate chamber? Now that’s what I call decorum, lawmakers and staff running for their lives.

But most Senate Republicans voted to let Trump off the hook. He’s now free to run for president again and wreak more havoc. Maybe more senators should wear jogging suits to help them escape the next Trump riot.

Grassley was one of 46 Republican senators who signed a letter decrying the wardrobe change. Seven of the senators who signed the letter voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Worse than wearing a hoodie?

Pew research found this month that disapproval of Congress is nearing a record high, with 72 percent disapproving and just 26 percent approving.

But one senator isn’t wearing a suit. That’s the problem.

I really don’t care if Fetterman wears a coat and tie. If I were a senator I’d probably dress up. I adhered to the coat-and-tie rule in the Iowa Senate and survived.

Maybe I’d wear a tweed suit to commemorate Keir Hardie, a Scottish union leader and the head of the new Independent Labour Party, who was elected to parliament. In 1892 he showed up in the House of Commons wearing a tweed suit, red tie and “deerstalker” hat. The fact he failed to wear a black frock coat and a black silk top hat like other MPs was a scandal. What would Hardie think of Fetterman and his casual attire?

Fetterman suffered a stroke during the Senate campaign and, after winning his seat, was treated for depression. If wearing comfortable clothes helps him deal with all that, why should we judge and heap derision on the guy? So long as he’s able to perform his duties, his clothes don’t matter much.

But on Wednesday night, the Senate voted to formalize the dress code and require members to wear business attire. So hoodiegate ends.

Dress codes are about sustaining an old social order (See rich white guys) including, of course, misogyny. It wasn’t until 1993 that women were allowed to wear pants on the Senate Floor. In Missouri, the state House adopted a new dress code this year forbidding women from wearing clothing that exposes their bare arms.

And can any of us ever forget the Obama tan suit scandal?

Fetterman told CNN there are much more pressing issues to be dealt with, “instead of, like, how if I dress like a bum.”

Which brings us back to the possible government shutdown. Which promises to have real consequences for Iowa and America, unlike a senator in shorts

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com