Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Wednesday offered to "save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week" if House Republicans "stop trying to shut our government down."
Fetterman issued the statement poking at congressional Republicans — in his words, "those jagoffs in the House" — as he was presiding over the Senate in shorts, sneakers and a short-sleeve button-down shirt, without a tie.
His wardrobe while presiding was a first for the Senate.
“The world didn’t spin off its axis,” Fetterman later told NBC News. “I think we will still go on."
His comments come just days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly changed the chamber’s informal dress code to allow senators to wear casual attire on the floor. It had previously required men and women to dress in business attire, although it was often flouted.
Fetterman, a first-term senator who's often seen at the Capitol wearing a hoodie and shorts, is a prominent beneficiary of the new rule.
The loosened dress code has been ridiculed by Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who joked that she planned to wear a bikini. “I think there is a certain dignity that we should be maintaining in the Senate, and to do away with the dress code, to me, debases the institution,” Collins added.
House Republicans are struggling to find a path to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month. Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a funding bill but center-right and far-right factions of the party have been unable to come to a compromise.
Wednesday was not the first time Fetterman has made fun of his clothing tastes while also taking a jab at a Republican.
After Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said Monday that Fetterman "has got a lot of problems" and his dress is "dumbing down" standards, Fetterman tweeted out the video and wrote, "I dress like he campaigns."
