'Fetterman Rule' reversed, Senate votes to revive dress code after worldwide mockery



The Senate passed a bipartisan resolution to bring back to the formal dress code in the upper chamber after the requirements were controversially dropped for senators only, not for staff members.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had quietly ordered the Senate dress code no longer to be enforced, which was then nicknamed the "Fetterman Rule."

“Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,” Schumer said in a statement to Axios at the time.

This meant Senator John Fetterman would no longer be forced to vote from the doorway of the Senate cloakroom whenever he appeared in his usual sweat pants, shorts, or hooded sweatshirt combos.

However, nearly every Republican senator signed a letter in opposition to the change, the New York Post reported, with Maine's Susan Collins joking she might show up to work in a bikini.

The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, even voiced his disagreement, along with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who eventually sponsored the dress code's return with Mitt Romney.

The dress code will require men to wear “a coat, tie and slacks or other longer pants," which means it may be back to the cloakroom for Fetterman.

Manchin reportedly reached out to Fetterman to say, “'John, I think it’s wrong & there's no way I can comply with that’ … [I] wanted to tell him directly that I totally oppose it & I will do everything I can to try to hold the decorum of the Senate.”

Manchin tells me he spoke to Fetterman today about the Senate dress code change\n\n\u201cI said \u2018John, I think it\u2019s wrong & there's no way I can comply with that\u2019\u2026Wanted to tell him directly that I totally oppose it & I will do everything I can to try to hold the decorum of the Senate\u201d
— Ursula Perano (@Ursula Perano) 1695149031

Schumer added that though "we’ve never had an official dress code, the events over the past week have made us all feel as though formalizing one is the right path forward."

"I deeply appreciate Senator Fetterman working with me to come to an agreement that we all find acceptable, and of course I appreciate Sen. Manchin and Sen. Romney's leadership on this issue."

Romney said in a statement that the Senate should "demonstrate a high level of reverence for the institution." He added that "attire is one of the most basic expressions of that respect."

“I’m proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to call for a return to a level of dress becoming of the Senate,” Romney continued.

In response to the resolution, Fetterman posted a photo of actor Kevin James shrugging to his X account.

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— Senator John Fetterman (@Senator John Fetterman) 1695856045

Fetterman promised he would wear a suit if appearing on the Senate floor but otherwise will vote from the depths of the cloakroom once more.

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Dave McCormick concedes GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania to Dr. Mehmet Oz



More than two weeks after the May 17 Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick has conceded the close contest to Dr. Mehmet Oz.

McCormick announced that he had called and informed Oz that he will aim to unite people around Oz's Senate bid.

\u201chttps://t.co/00H88ooHTg\u201d
— Dave McCormick (@Dave McCormick) 1654295459

"I received a gracious phone call from David McCormick and am tremendously grateful for his pledge of support in the fall election. We share the goal of a brighter future for Pennsylvania & America," Oz tweeted.

Oz, a celebrity who previously hosted a television program, was backed by former President Donald Trump during the primary contest. The candidate will go on to face Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman during the general election contest.

Fetterman suffered a stroke last month and then later had a pacemaker with a defibrillator inserted on the day of the election.

"The stroke I suffered on May 13 didn't come out of nowhere. Like so many others, and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn't feel well. As a result, I almost died," Fetterman said in a statement issued on Friday, according to reports.

The candidate's cardiologist, Dr. Ramesh Chandra, noted in a statement that in 2017 he had diagnosed Fetterman "with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, along with a decreased heart pump" and "had prescribed medications along with improved diet and exercise and asked him to follow up again in the following months."

But Chandra noted that Fetterman did not see a physician for five years and failed to keep taking his medicine.

"The prognosis I can give for John's heart is this: if he takes his medications, eats healthy, and exercises, he'll be fine. If he does what I've told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem."

\u201cFetterman in a statement says he should have taken his health prior to the stroke more seriously. \u201cThe stroke I suffered on May 13 didn\u2019t come out of nowhere.\u201d\n\nCardiologist\u2019s note says Fetterman hadn\u2019t been to \u201cany\u201d doctor in five years and hadn\u2019t been taking his meds.\u201d
— Ursula Perano (@Ursula Perano) 1654284676

Russian airlines and private jets are banned from European airspace



Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that the European Union would close its airspace to Russian aircraft in response to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, ABC News reported.

In a press conference, Von der Leyen said, “We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered, or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the EU.”

“So let me be very clear,” she continued, “Our airspace will be closed to every Russian plane, and that includes the private jets of oligarchs too.”

Von der Leyen also announced that the European Union would be prohibiting media backed by the Russian government.

She said, “The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war. We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”

Second, we will ban the Kremlin\u2019s media machine in the EU.\n\u00a0\nThe state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries,\nwill no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin\u2019s war.\n\u00a0\nWe are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.pic.twitter.com/7RcPEn6E14
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979737

Her press conference concluded with the von der Leyen issuing sanctions on the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Third, we will target the other aggressor in this war, Lukashenko\u2019s regime, with a new package of sanctions, hitting their most important sectors.\n\nAll these measures come on top of the strong package presented yesterday,\nagreed by our international partners.pic.twitter.com/ikN99V14zU
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979897

The European Union also plans to purchase and supply weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Von der Leyen said, “For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.”

These sanctions will further hurt the Russian economy, which has been in a freefall since Russian forces started their invasion of Ukraine. The Russian ruble is plummeting in value, and Western nations continue to barrage Russia with sanctions.

In response to the ruble’s freefall, the Russian central bank is intervening in the foreign exchange market and expanding the list of securities that it will accept as collateral. It is also offering banks 1 trillion rubles so that they have additional liquidity to keep them afloat.

On Saturday, Western leaders proceeded with excluding Russia from the SWIFT telecommunications network, which will prevent the Russian central bank from manipulating its monetary policy to avoid the economic impact of sanctions and make it virtually impossible for Russia to conduct business with its international trade partners.

In a joint statement, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States committed to targeting Russian banks and oligarchs by blocking Russia’s access to the SWIFT network.

The Western leaders said, “We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion.”