In the House of Representatives, reporters and lawmakers have been met with dress code rules that are not clear and are often loosely interpreted, CBS News is reporting.
Men must wear suit jackets and ties in the House chamber and the Speaker's lobby, a location next to the House chamber in which reporters wait for lawmakers to get brief interviews. Women have been instructed not to wear sleeveless blouses or dresses, sneakers, or open-toed shoes, according to CBS News.
The rules are not enforced on the Senate side of the Capitol building, and a senior Republican source told CBS News that House security and the House sergeant-at-arms enforce business attire rules in the Speaker's lobby, and floor staff enforce the rules on the House floor.
Haley Byrd, a reporter for Independent Journal Review, said she was kicked out of the Speaker's lobby for wearing a sleeveless dress. She sometimes walks fast and those on patrol do not notice her, CBS reports.
"It wasn't some tyrannical end of free press, but I opted to just go around instead. But recently they've been cracking down on the code, like with open-toed shoes," Byrd said.
In apparent exceptions to the rules, former first lady Michelle Obama wore sleeveless dresses to a number of State of the Union addresses, and Ivanka Trump wore an off-the-shoulder dress to President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress in February, according to the report.
The guidelines are vague, according to Billy House, chairman of the Standing Committee of Congressional Correspondents.
"For anyone hoping to find any actual, official code of attire? Good luck," he said, CBS reports.
Any written rules of outlawed clothing have disappeared — along with "someone's old knee breeches, or powdered wigs — were hidden away or never actually written down and distributed," House added.
House Speaker Paul Ryan addressed the issue on June 23.
"Members should wear appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House, however brief their appearance on the floor may be," Ryan said.