--- title: Democrats Aim to Change a House Rule to Allow Religious Headwear description: Democrats have proposed a clarification to a 181-year-old rule banning representatives from wearing hats on the House floor. canonical: https://time.com/5458281/democrats-proposed-rule-allow-religious-headwear-house/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-18T17:15:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:06:37.187Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Want to Change a 181-Year-Old Rule to Allow Religious Headwear in the House og:description: It comes as part of a promise to "restore inclusion and diversity" in the chamber og:url: https://time.com/5458281/democrats-proposed-rule-allow-religious-headwear-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ddeba0f17f6a173/69893f6922fb852334e27341/ilhan-omar.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: 116th Congressional Member-Elect Class Photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Want to Change a 181-Year-Old Rule to Allow Religious Headwear in the House twitter:description: It comes as part of a promise to "restore inclusion and diversity" in the chamber twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ddeba0f17f6a173/69893f6922fb852334e27341/ilhan-omar.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Want to Change a 181-Year-Old Rule to Allow Religious Headwear in the House > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9d1c28be-dc8d-4a6a-9c89-acf926702b58&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: FIRSTS Ilhan Omar [Watch (HLS stream): FIRSTS Ilhan Omar](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8i3qofna.m3u8) (2:17)  _Published 2017-09-01. Ilhan Omar is the FIRST Somali-American Muslim person to become a legislator._  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Nov 18, 2018 5:15 PM UTC  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Nov 18, 2018 5:15 PM UTC As they prepare to welcome two newly-elected Muslim women into the 116th Congress, Democrats have proposed a clarification to a 181-year-old rule banning representatives from wearing hats on the House floor. If approved, the new rules would allow lawmakers to wear religious headwear, like hijabs and kippahs, once Democrats take control of the chamber in January. [Representative-elect Ilhan Omar](http://time.com/4620567/ilhan-omar-muslim-refugee-us-legislator/), one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, wears a headscarf. She was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a refugee. > [](https://twitter.com/ilhanmn/status/1063831710025035779) The proposed rule was co-authored by current House Minority Leader [Nancy Pelosi](http://time.com/5388347/nancy-pelosi-democrats-feminism/), ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee Rep. Jim McGovern and Omar. It comes as part of the Democrats’ new House [rules proposal](https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/democratic-house-rules-proposal/2348/?tid=a%5Finl%5Fmanual) package. The drafted changes promise to “ensure religious expression,” by “clarify\[ing\] in the rules that religious headwear is permitted to be worn in the House chamber.” The current rules, which were [implemented in 1837,](https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1800-1850/The-debate-over-the-rule-to-ban-hats-on-the-House-Floor/) decree that “every member shall remain uncovered during the sessions of the House.” Those rules could be interpreted to disallow Omar from using the head covering she wears as part of her faith. The rule change comes as part of Democrats’ broader promise to “restore inclusion and diversity” in the House. Alongside the clarification on head coverings, Democrats have also proposed to change House rules to explicitly ban LGBTQ+ discrimination and to create an independent office to promote diversity among House staff hires. ## Transcript People will look at you and they'll try and define you. Whether you're a woman, whether you're young. They'll try and cabin off what you are able to do. But people can only do that if you let them. And so, I always viewed my job as defining myself. If we are in a meeting, we're there for a reason. Not to just sit there and absorb. If you are only there not speaking, you kind of create the impression that you're not prepared to be there. You need to participate and you need to know what you're talking about. You can ask a man to do a job that he's never been qualified to do and he will raise his hand and say, absolutely I will do that job. Women always say I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I need more experience. I don't necessarily know that there is anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean, why have we come to decide that being brash and overly aggressive should be the way we are? But, we should also know that we're not going to feel any wiser or any more ready. In ten years than we did ten years ago. So we might as well just leap. There is a lot of perception of my gosh, this is really hard because of the gender. What are going to do about that, just not do it? If you want to do something, you just do it, and then hope that people catch up to you. Girls that are going to play in the little league, anything could happen. You could be up by ten runs and you could lose the game. So, stay focused. Make sure you play as a team. And, hopefully, you hit a home run, cuz no girl has ever hit a home run. And I'll be cheering for you. You'll never make everyone happy. So you just have to be exactly who it is that you are and at least know that you've been true to yourself. It's about attitude, aptitude and opportunity. Who knew I would be here? But it all started with folks that thought I had a good attitude. That put me in places that challenged me and then provided me with opportunities because I met and exceeded the standard. You often don't realize, people want you to succeed. And they often have very good solutions both practical and in terms of thinking of opportunities for you. And the other thing is, I think it's not too bad To have pure intentions, intensity doing, one thing or the other more frequency in every successful woman's life has his hips and flows. Know your power, know your power, your intellect, have your values in your commitment, the courage you have and don't let anybody trivialize. How you have spent your years. All of them have contributed to making a very unique and special person. Just take joy, don't let anyone discourage you from that thing that you love the most. It's more about making life Them making a living, that's what matters. 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