Mavericks Without a Cause

In late 2023 the U.S. Senate ignited in a firestorm of controversy. Freshman senator John Fetterman had begun showing up to the job—and even presiding over the chamber—in nothing but shorts and a hoodie. A reaction quickly ensued. Backroom negotiations led by Senator Joe Manchin ended in the unanimous passage of the SHORTS (“Show Our Respect to the Senate”) Act, the first in the Senate’s history to mandate a dress code. Fetterman responded by tweeting a picture of the actor Kevin James shrugging. Three years later, Fetterman had still not forgotten Manchin’s treachery, commenting to a journalist that he hoped the West Virginia senator had “gotten over the way I dress.”