The New York Sun is happy to be the first newspaper to endorse Senator Manchin’s proposal to restore the dress code that for years has obtained in the upper chamber. It seems that over the weekend the majority leader, Senator Schumer, without so much as a howdy do to either caucus, cast aside the requirement for jacket and tie for men and business dress for women. The idea was to accommodate the junior solon from Pennsylvania, Senator Fetterman.

We can admire the instinct. Mr. Fetterman appears to be not entirely in control of his faculties. We could even see giving him a one-senator exception to the rules to address his medical issues. The dress code writ large, though, is not about special regard for any individual. It’s about regard for the Upper Chamber as an institution — and, more broadly, for the American states whom the Senate represents.