The U.S. Senate will no longer enforce a dress code for members of the upper house elected by those they serve.

‘However, others entering the chamber must comply with the dress code. Coats/ties for men. Business attire for women,’ tweeted Chad Pergram, Fox News senior congressional correspondent.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly sent the directive to the Senate’s sergeant at arms, news website Axios reported.

The change allows Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to continue to wear his trademark hooded sweatshirts and gym shorts while working for Americans.

Fetterman was previously praised for ‘turning heads’ and ‘redefining fashion in the stuffy Senate’ during his recovery after a six-week stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was treated for ‘clinical depression’ and ‘fitted for hearing aids for hearing loss that had made it harder for him to communicate,’ according to an AP story from May.

The senator even found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before ducking out, per the AP report.

‘He’s setting a new dress code,’ Democrat Vermont Sen. Peter Welch joked to AP in May. ‘He was struggling. And now he’s a joyful person to be around.’

Fetterman faced some backlash against his casual dress code, even from his own staff, according to AP, who ‘had originally asked him to always wear suits, which he famously hates.’

‘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. The news website added that Senate officials said the updated rule will go into effect this week.

Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark and Patrick Hauf contributed to this report.

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EXCLUSIVE: A former U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret and combat veteran announced Monday he was joining the race to try and flip what could be one of 2024’s most competitive congressional seats from the Democrats.

Republican Derrick Anderson, who served six tours of duty throughout the Middle East as part of the Global War on Terror, told Fox News Digital he could ‘no longer remain silent on the sidelines.’ Anderson added he is running to bring leadership to Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which he argues is lacking under Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

‘I have spent my life serving this country overseas, including combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Watching President Biden and Washington Democrats squander 22 years of sacrifices made by our service members and their families was the final straw for me,’ Anderson said.

‘President Biden and career politicians are putting politics and their own gains in front of fighting for what’s best for the American people: safer streets, better paying jobs and cheaper goods, a secure border and an education system that teaches our children how to think, not what to think,’ he said. 

Anderson served in the Army from 2006 to 2014 before his first run for Congress in 2022. That year he narrowly lost the Republican primary to former congressional candidate Yesli Vega. Spanberger, a former CIA operative, went on to defeat Vega in the general election by just under 5%, securing her third term after she was first elected in the 2018 midterms.

According to Politico, Spanberger has said she will run for governor of Virginia in 2025 and will forego running for a fourth term in Congress next year.

Virginia’s 7th Congressional District has remained one of the Republican Party’s top targets to flip from the Democrats and is, once again, considered a potential swing district going into the 2024 elections. A potential absence of Spanberger on the ballot could make that more obtainable and Anderson feels he is the candidate who can finally move Republicans across the finish line.

‘Though I no longer wear a United States Army uniform, it does not mean I can no longer serve this nation. I pledge to be the representative the people of Virginia’s 7th District deserve and are owed,’ he told Fox. ‘I will run a tireless, heartfelt and genuine campaign the people of the 7th district, the place that raised me, can be proud of.’

In the video Anderson released as part of his campaign launch, he touts his childhood mopping floors and washing dishes in his mother’s local Spotsylvania County restaurant before going on to Virginia Tech on an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship, where he became the first person in his family to graduate from college.

‘I’m running for Congress to fight for you, and to serve the country I love once again,’ he says, before listing the policies he would prioritize as the district’s representative.

Anderson is now one of five candidates vying for the Republican nomination for the district.

Republicans currently hold a slim five-seat majority in the House of Representatives and are hoping to build on that next year, partly by capitalizing on the unpopularity of President Biden. The party gained control of the chamber following the 2022 midterm elections, but performed well below expectations.

House Republicans held a members-only conference call with Freedom Caucus members on Sunday night in an attempt to avert a government shutdown, Fox News has learned.

The goal of the call, which took place at 8 p.m., was to agree on a continuing resolution to fund the government for another month. The Freedom Caucus and House Republican leadership have been disputing over what a funding package could look like.

Before the call took place, sources told Fox News Digital that there has been ‘good progress’ between Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans.

The interim spending bill, which is good for 31 days, is expected to renew current funding while incorporating more border and immigration-related spending. The House aims to vote on it on Thursday.

The continuing resolution would also fund veteran and military spending at current levels while marking a 1% cut from fiscal year 2023 discretionary spending levels. House Republicans are hoping to pass their defense spending bill this week.

The defense spending bill will also be coupled with House Resolution 2 (HR 2), which is intended to limit asylum provisions and tighten up border security.

Notably, the defense bill does not include additional disaster relief money for Ukraine, which has been requested by the White House. It also does not include an E-Verify provision requiring employers to document the employment eligibility of their workers, which has been previously discussed.

Despite the attempt to rally Republicans behind the new continuing resolution, several GOP lawmakers expressed on social media that they would be voting ‘no’ when the bill faces a vote.

‘I’m a NO,’ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. ‘No money for Ukraine, COVID, or weaponized Gov.’

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., echoed: ‘I’m a HARD NO!’

Mills, among others, has expressed that he wants government spending to return to pre-pandemic levels.

‘I’m sick of the DC backroom deals to appease 61 in the Senate and not going to play this game,’ the Floridian continued. ‘Our job is to fund the US and take care of the American people. I was not elected by overseas interests like others. Enough is Enough!’

Rep. Dan Bishop, R-NC, added: ‘I’m with Cory. No CR. Pass the damn approps bills. Roll back the crazy bureaucracy to pre-COVID levels. Now.’

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., also expressed he was among those who opposed the bill.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., argued that the current spending levels were decided by President Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, therefore Republicans, who are in control of the House, should take the responsibility to set new levels. 

‘For months, I have made it very clear that I will not be supporting a CR. And this week is no different,’ he wrote on X. ‘A CR is a continuation of Nancy Pelosi’s budget and Joe Biden’s policies.’

Rosendale added: ‘We were assured in January that we weren’t going to use the Democrats’ gimmicks to fund government and that we would deliver the 12 appropriations bills, thereby funding government responsibly and transparently, which is why I will be voting against the CR this week.’

McCarthy has said he will bring the continuing resolution to the House floor for a vote, whether he has the votes to pass it or not. The tactic is often used to put members on the record. 

Republicans, who have 222 members, can only afford four holdouts and still pass a bill with 218 votes. They appear well above that number for the continuing resolution.

Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Vice Chair Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., and Executive Board Representative Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., told Fox News that they are working with Freedom Caucus members to build support for the continuing resolution.

‘Congress must keep government open and secure the border,’ the statement reads. ‘That’s why we’ve worked with leaders of the House Freedom Caucus to introduce a 31-day continuing resolution laser-focused on fixing the crisis at our southern border.’

‘We want to thank members of both the Republican Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus, as well as a broad cross-section of other members from across the Republican conference for their contributions to this effort,’ the statement continues.

After the contentious debate in the House is settled, the bill will head to the Senate.

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Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit against his state’s largest hospital, alleging it violated a patient’s privacy when it leaked news that a 10-year-old girl had crossed state lines for an abortion.

Rokita, a Republican, filed the lawsuit Friday, alleging that the doctor, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, wrongfully outed the 10-year-old girl who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for the abortion.

‘Neither the 10-year-old nor her mother gave the doctor authorization to speak to the media about their case,’ the lawsuit states. ‘Rather than protecting the patient, the hospital chose to protect the doctor, and itself.’

The lawsuit names Indiana University Health and IU Healthcare Associates, claiming they violated HIPPA laws.

An Indiana board voted Thursday to reprimand Bernard for performing the abortion and sharing the information about the procedure with the media.

The Indiana State Medical Licensing Board fined Bernard $3,000 after it determined she violated privacy laws by talking publicly about the operation.

The board, however, turned down a request from the attorney general’s office to suspend Bernard’s license.

Bernard attested to her own innocence and repeatedly defended her actions, telling the board Thursday that she followed Indiana’s reporting requirements.

Bernard also said she notified hospital social workers about the child abuse and confirmed the girl’s rape was already being investigated by Ohio authorities. She and her attorneys also argued that she did not release identifying information about the girl.

Board members questioned her during last week’s hearing and asked why she specifically went to a reporter.

‘I think that it’s incredibly important for people to understand the real-world impacts of the laws of this country about abortion,’ Bernard answered. ‘I think it’s important for people to know what patients will have to go through because of legislation that is being passed, and a hypothetical does not make that impact.’

Fox News’ Lawrence Richard and the Associated Press contributed to this report.