A U.S. senator has attempted to leverage his hoodies to prevent a federal government shutdown.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said on Wednesday that he would give up his casual style and wear a suit if those in the House avoid a shutdown.
“If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week,” he quipped on social media.
As reported in The Dallas Express, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lifted the dress code requiring U.S. senators to wear business attire last week.
Fetterman already had a habit of dressing casually, even attempting to avoid violating the dress code by half-entering the Senate floor with one foot still in the cloakroom to cast his votes. He has recently struggled with health issues, such as clinical depression.
It remains to be seen whether Fetterman’s trade will work, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was again unsuccessful in getting a stalled spending bill passed on Thursday as a federal government shutdown on September 30 looms.
The final vote was 216 to 212, with all Democrats voting against it, along with Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Eli Crane of Arizona, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
“This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” McCarthy commented, according to The New York Times. “It doesn’t work.”
Some like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) have called for a stopgap spending bill to be passed in order to avert a shutdown by funding the government for 30 days while cutting discretionary spending not related to defense by 8%.
“We should not leave town — our border is on fire & we have to get our job done,” Roy wrote in a statement on social media in response to reports of some lawmakers already heading home from Washington.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Roy has advocated withholding funding from the Department of Homeland Security until significant improvements are made to border security.
Republican opposition to the spending bill has also been on the basis of federal taxpayer dollars going to fund what they deem unworthy initiatives like the war in Ukraine.
“Our country is being invaded by the thousands every damn day and our Department of Defense does nothing. Our Defense bill should not fund our DOD for blood money for the Ukraine war, that’s why I’m a NO,” wrote Greene on social media.
McCarthy has spent hours strategizing and discussing with fellow House Republicans.
Yet, even if he were to pass a spending plan including 8% cutbacks in funding for government services, it would likely not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, with or without Fetterman in a suit.
