Welcome to My Office: Rep. Jared Moskowitz has his sneakers on and is ready to work

Editor's note: ‘Welcome to My Office’ is a new video series from The Hill that takes readers behind the scenes to the offices of congressional staffers, senators, House lawmakers and more.

If sneakers are the new dress shoe, freshman Rep. Jared Moskowitz is ready.

The Florida Democrat says he has more than 150 pairs of Jordan kicks, an homage to his favorite player — who happens to have worn the same jersey number, 23, as Moskowitz's district.

"I’m a sneakerhead. I’m a huge Jordan fan — Michael Jordan's the greatest basketball player of all time. I don't want to hear about anyone else; it's all nonsense, it's only Michael," he told The Hill during a wide-ranging interview in his office.

Hung on his wall is a long Jordan wings photo, which Moskowitz posed below with his arms stretched out.

Moskowitz said he first had the idea of wearing sneakers around the Capitol after a lunch with now-House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) around the time of the 2022 midterms.

"During the election I got to go to a lunch with Hakeem Jeffries. And so I was all dressed up. I, you know, tried to — wanted to impress Hakeem, you know, wearing, you know, nice Oxford shoes, ties. And I get there and Hakeem's in sneakers," Moskowitz said.

"And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh, I’m like Hakeem, I would’ve worn sneakers.’ I didn't know we could do that. He goes, ‘Fun fact, the mandatory House attire for men, there's nothing about shoes, you know, you could wear whatever shoes you want.’ And so I was like, ‘Fun fact, I have lots of sneakers," he added.

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Moskowitz is often spotted sporting his colorful kicks in the Capitol, and he posts photos on social media of them with the caption #SneakerOfTheHouse. On St. Patrick's Day, they were green and white. The day of the State of the Union address, he wore a Jordan-DJ Khaled collaboration sneaker.

"My State of the Union guest: DJ Khaled . . . . shoes," the congressman wrote on Twitter.

He said he started wearing them one day "as a fun little social experiment," but it soon became a way "to connect to people."

His love of sneakers and showcasing the kicks on Capitol Hill led Moskowitz and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) to the April launch of the Congressional Sneaker Caucus, which bills itself as "a bipartisan group of Members and staff dedicated to their shared love of sneakers and their impact on American culture and fitness."

The group made headlines last week when Jeffries and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) drew criticism after they were photographed wearing dress sneakers in the Oval Office during a debt ceiling meeting with President Biden and other congressional leaders, a fashion choice the Caucus said it "unequivocally supports."

Moskowitz was elected to Congress in November, beating out a GOP opponent to succeed former Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) in Florida's 23rd congressional district.

It is not, however, his first brush with politics.

Most recently, the 42-year-old Florida native served as the state's director of emergency management, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Before that, he served nearly seven years in the Florida House of Representatives, from 2012 through 2019.

Moskowitz was a member of the Florida House when, in March 2018, the legislature passed and then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a gun control bill into law that implemented new restrictions on gun purchases in the state. It raised the minimum age for purchasing firearms from 18 to 21, allowed some trained school employees to be armed with concealed handguns on school campuses, and instituted so-called "red flag laws," among other provisions.

Moskowitz, who is an alum of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the scene of the February 2018 mass shooting, said gun violence prevention his top legislative priority.

He has a Marjory Stoneman Douglas flag framed on a wall in his office.

"We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on stuff that really doesn't matter — what people say on Twitter, the president's son's laptop — somewhere in the back of parents’ minds they don't feel that their kid is safe at school," Moskowitz said.

He clutched a coffee mug that reads "dead kids can't read," a reference to a speech he gave during a committee hearing in March.

"The idea that we should do nothing is ridiculous," he added.

‘Welcome To My Office’ Ep 1: Jared Moskowitz

Executive Producers: Sarakshi Rai, Mychael Schnell

Direction/Editing: Aaron Kalischer-Coggins

Editor's note: ‘Welcome to My Office’ is a new video series from The Hill that takes readers behind the scenes to the offices of congressional staffers, senators, House lawmakers and more.