Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the Senate must act to reverse the unilateral decision made by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to stop enforcing the dress code.
In a rare public disagreement with his party’s leader, Durbin, the Democratic majority whip, said he is “concerned” about the relaxed standards, which critics say are an accommodation for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who despises suits in favor of loose-fitting shirts, hoodies and gym shorts.
“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.
Schumer said Monday that staff for the chamber’s sergeant at arms — the Senate’s official clothes police — will no longer enforce a dress code on the Senate floor.
“There has been an informal dress code that was enforced,” Schumer said in a statement. “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.
“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.
He went further and told Scully he “can’t understand” what Schumer was thinking, before calling on the Senate to overrule the decision.
“I can’t understand exactly what [Schumer] was thinking at that point,” he said. “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.”
Durbin’s remarks come after a group of 46 Republican senators sent a letter to Schumer demanding that he reverse course on the dress code.
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