It would appear that lawmakers on Capitol Hill now have more pressing problems: Due to disagreements over the budget, the prospect of another shutdown looms, Republicans in the House are preparing to impeach President Joe Biden, and at the end of the week , Congress will convene the plenary session so that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky can speak there.
But Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decided now is the time to abandon this long tradition. Perhaps he was inspired by the upcoming visit of the Ukrainian guest, who, on his last visit in December 2022, surprised Washington before the holidays in a military suit. Schumer, who plans to continue wearing a suit, apparently thought the guest would feel more comfortable in the company of similarly dressed senators. True, not everyone appreciated Zelensky’s style. For example, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson compared the Ukrainian president’s appearance to that of a “strip club manager,” noting that no one had ever worn a sweater in a speech to the U.S. Congress. Now some conservative legislators have already received the innovation with hostility, calling the abolition of the dress code “a lack of respect for the institutions of power.”
However, in the Senate there are already worse dandies than the Ukrainian president. For example, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman showed up to work in baggy shorts and a hoodie, complementing the already colorful appearance of a six-foot-tall, bearded, bald man with tattoos. Previously, senators could walk through the hallways or be in their offices dressed like this, but entry to the voting room was only allowed in work clothes. Fetterman, like several of his colleagues, however, found a way to get around this rule: they crossed the threshold of the room with one foot, showed “for” or “against” with a hand gesture, and then left.
