The claim that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) has created a new rule mandating women cover their shoulders in the halls of Congress is "simply wrong," according to NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt.
Hunt responded to a story concerning Weekly Standard reporter and former Washington Free Beacon writer Jenna Lifhits. On Thursday, Lifhits ran afoul of a rule concerning appropriate attire in what is known as the House speaker's lobby, the hallway outside the House chamber. Specifically, women are expected to cover their shoulders; Lifhits' sleeveless dress did not make the cut. A female House officer did not approve of her improvised solution, stuffing notebook paper into her sleeves.
CBS News on Thursday described the ambiguity of the dress code and other reporters who broke the rules. This in turn, as Lifhits put it, "had unintended, though in hindsight perhaps inevitable, consequences."
The story was picked up by a number of left-leaning outlets, all of which took it as an opportunity to suggest that the rule was part of Ryan's supposed patriarchal campaign against women.
One particularly conspicuous headline from Mic suggested that "Women aren't allowed to wear sleeveless tops in the House chambers, thanks to Paul Ryan." Hunt took exception to that claim.
"This is simply wrong," Hunt wrote on Twitter. "The Speakers' Lobby dress code has been this way for decades."
"Can be argued it should change -- but let's be factual," she wrote.
This is simply wrong. The Speakers' Lobby dress code has been this way for decades. Can be argued it should change -- but let's be factual https://t.co/QDgti2fnGj
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) July 7, 2017
Mic later edited its headline and removed Ryan's name.
Hunt said the ban had been enforced her entire time working on Capitol Hill, more than ten years.
This time period included Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) term as House speaker, a fact Hunt specifically highlighted.
As long as I've worked on the Hill (on and off for 10+ years), it's been enforced.
Including when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker https://t.co/ZZRDpLrtH1
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) July 7, 2017
All members of Congress and staff are expected to wear "appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House however brief their appearance on the floor may be," Ryan recently said.
"All House floor rules made for members of Congress and their staff apply to the Speaker's Lobby," Ryan's spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, told CBS. Reporters frequently wait in the lobby to interview lawmakers.
Hunt was not the only journalist to debunk the hasty claims of some left-leaning sites. K Tully McManus and Kellie Mejdrich, both reporters at Roll Call, were featured in a Jezebel story on the topic, and both tweeted responses making clear that, contrary to Jezebel's original reporting, the rules are not new.
"Dress code NOT NEW," Mejdrich wrote.
Dress code for Speaker's Lobby isn't new, as headline suggests. But issues arise annually as DC heats up each spring/summer.
— K Tully-McManus (@ktullymcmanus) July 6, 2017
Dress code NOT NEW @Jezebel https://t.co/mS5dTOYP9V
— Kellie Mejdrich (@kelmej) July 6, 2017
Jezebel subsequently corrected its headline, omitting the word "new."