The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Murphy shares his candy stash secret with Warren
During the short breaks, unwrap a few hard candies and put them in your desk drawer. That way you avoid the noise of unwrapping them when you sneak one mid-trial.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy wrote in a tweet
Sen. Chris Murphy has a secret. There’s an assigned candy desk in the Senate, but he’s got a little stash of his own.
The so-called candy desk really is a thing, as The New York Times reported. It’s currently assigned to Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, and is completely bipartisan.
Senate rules restrict eating and drinking during the extended impeachment trials. Senators are required to sit quietly at their desks, and refrain from talking, eating or drinking.
Senators are only allowed milk, water and candy, and the sweet stuff only from the assigned candy desk. No coffee and no food, except during pre-determined mealtimes.
But Murphy has a secret: He has some candy stashed under his desk, and he makes sure he’s quiet when he eats it by unwrapping it beforehand.
Murphy apparently clued Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren in on his new “impeachment trick.”
“During the short breaks, unwrap a few hard candies and put them in your desk drawer,” he tweeted. “That way you avoid the noise of unwrapping them when you sneak one mid-trial.”
Warren, Murphy said, has been drinking milk during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Murphy, though, has been going with “flat water” — and a secret soda.
“Senate rules allow Senators to have water or milk at their desks, and today Senators (including my seat mate @ewarren) are going w milk,” Murphy said on Twitter. “I stick w flat water (and a secret Diet Mtn Dew in the back room fridge).”
Alan Frumin, a former Senate parliamentarian, told CNN that the allowance of milk is more of a guideline than a rule. It began on Jan. 24, 1966.
That precedent states that “Senate rules do not prohibit a senator from sipping milk during his speech.”
“There was no medicine for pectic ulcer disease so people would drink milk and so the senators were allowed to drink milk,” Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told CNN.