Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatment

  • 📰 6abc
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 92 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 40%
  • Publisher: 63%

Health Health Headlines News

Health Health Latest News,Health Health Headlines

People close to Fetterman say his more relaxed style is a reflection of the progress he's made after six weeks of inpatient treatment for clinical depression.

Before Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to the hospital for clinical depression in February, he walked the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he's back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a senator.

Senators do occasionally vote in casual clothing - Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, for example, is known for sometimes arriving in gym clothes. But Fetterman's regular attire is redefining fashion in the stuffy Senate. He's turning heads on a daily basis as he walks the halls in his signature baggy Carhartt sweatshirts and saggy gym shorts, his hulking figure surrounded by much more formally dressed Washington types buzzing around the Capitol.

Fetterman, Welch and Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama became friends at the orientation, and those two colleagues stayed close with him through his recovery. Britt says that in those early days, Fetterman would only really engage if she started the conversation, but they bonded over having children of a similar age and the fact that Britt's former football player husband, Wesley, is the same height as the Pennsylvania senator.

Fetterman's words are still halting and sometimes hard to understand, due to his stroke. He has auditory processing disorder, which makes it harder to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. He uses iPads in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that transcribe spoken words in real time, and when he speaks publicly he often appears to be reading closely off a sheet of paper. He rarely speaks with reporters in the hallways.

But his chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, tweeted that the moment at the banking hearing was unscripted -- and a surprise to even him. "It's the same Fetterman that I recall as lieutenant governor, it's just difficult for him to communicate, so the elephant in the room obviously is the screen that he's reading from," Kovach said. "It's a bit of a distraction, but something I got quickly used to."

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 250. in HEALTH

Health Health Latest News, Health Health Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Back in Hoodies and Gym Shorts, Fetterman Tackles Senate Life After Depression TreatmentBefore Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to a hospital for clinical depression in February, he used to walk the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he’s back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a senator.
Source: NBCPhiladelphia - 🏆 569. / 51 Read more »

Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatmentPeople close to Fetterman say his relaxed, comfortable style is a sign that the senator is making a robust recovery after six weeks of inpatient treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Source: PennLive - 🏆 463. / 53 Read more »

Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatmentBefore Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to a hospital for clinical depression in February, he used to walk the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he’s back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a senator. People close to Fetterman say his more relaxed style is a reflection of the progress he's made after six weeks of inpatient treatment for clinical depression. He was treated with medication and fitted for hearing aids for hearing loss that had made it harder for him to communicate. His hospitalization came less than a year after he had a stroke during his Senate campaign.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatmentBefore Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to the hospital for clinical depression in February, he walked the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he’s back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a senator.
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »

Back in Hoodies and Gym Shorts, Fetterman Tackles Senate Life After Depression TreatmentBefore Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to a hospital for clinical depression in February, he used to walk the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he’s back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a senator.
Source: NBCDFW - 🏆 288. / 63 Read more »

Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatmentBefore Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to the hospital for clinical depression in February, he walked the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. Male senators are expected to wear a jacket and tie on the Senate floor, but Fetterman has a workaround. In between votes this past week, Fetterman's hoodie stayed on for a news conference with four Democratic colleagues in suits, the 6-foot-8 Fetterman towering over his colleagues.
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »