Sen. Susan Collins says she'd 'wear a bikini' to the Capitol in protest after the Senate loosened its dress code
GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she believes the lack of a dress code "debases the institution."
Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images
- On Sunday, Axios reported that the Senate won't be enforcing its dress code any longer.
- In response, 70-year-old Sen. Susan Collins joked that she'd wear a bikini on the Senate floor.
- She said the lack of a dress code "debases the institution."
GOP Sen. Susan Collins joked that she would come to the Capitol in a bikini after news broke that the Senate's previous dress code would no longer be enforced.
On Sunday, Axios reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had quietly directed the Senate Sergeant at Arms to quit enforcing its informal dress code requiring lawmakers to wear business attire on the Senate floor. One day later, Collins, 70, teased that the change meant she'd wear a bikini to work on Tuesday.
"I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor and Chris Coons is gonna wear shorts because there's no dress code anymore," Collins said before adding that doing "away with the dress code, to me, debases the institution."
Collins wasn't the only Republican legislator unhappy with Schumer's decision.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has made it his personal brand to wear sweatshirts and shorts both on and off Capitol Hill, frequently leading to sharp criticism from right-wing political commentators and lawmakers.
On Tuesday, for example, Sen. Cynthia Lummis decried Fetterman's attire as "the very sloppiest that a person would dress even if they're going to a gym by themselves," saying it alone has "debased" the Senate.
GOP firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted on Sunday that she thought the change in dress code was made simply "to appease Fetterman," which she said "is disgraceful."
Fetterman and his team haven't seemed to mind the criticism.
After a Fox News article documenting GOP backlash to his frequent attire, the Senator shot back on Twitter and said he believes if he takes "up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical," Republicans would make him "a folk hero," referencing recent news finding Rep. Lauren Boebert groped her date and vaped in the middle of a musical.
Fetterman's not the only member of the Senate who's known for occasionally dressing down at the Capitol. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has voted on legislation while wearing sweaty gym clothes from his pickup basketball games.