Every Senator Must Follow These 6 Senator Rules

The Senators must follow certain rules on the Senate floor. Do you want to learn more about it? This article might help you. You will learn about the standing rules of the senate. These are six rules every Senator needs to follow inside the Senate floor. Let’s discuss in-depth about the Senator rules!

1) While in Session, no person shall enter the floor of the Senate other than the Vice President and Senators, except a few people such as:

• The President of the United States and his private secretary
• The President elect and Vice President elect of the United States
• Ex-Presidents and Ex-Vice Presidents of the United States
• Members of the House of Representatives and Members elect
• Judges of the Supreme court

2) In the beginning of the 20th century, the Senate followed a custom of displaying flowers. The New York Times once declared that the proceedings were dull, but the flowers were bright and fragrant. There was another incident in which a small boy placed a basket of flowers on Senator McPherson’s desk and when he took his seat, he lost his view. After several such incidents, they declared a rule that proclaims that the Sergeant at Arms is not supposed to permit flowers into the Senate Chamber.

3) No smoking is permitted on the Senate floor at any time. This ban came into force in 1914. But people were using snuff instead, which is a non-smoking form of tobacco. By the 1880s, using snuff became outdated. Senator Charles Andrews once mentioned, “You know in the Senate we still keep the old snuffbox right up there where it’s been for more than 80 years, with a fresh supply of snuff, though nobody ever dips into it … Well, our legislative system is about as anachronistic.

4) If you think Senators can talk about whatever subject, whenever you want, you might be wrong. According to the Congressional Research Service(CRS), there are some exceptions to it. The Senate’s XIX specifies that the Senators are not supposed to speak more than twice upon any one question in a debate on the same legislative day. This was commonly known as the two-speech rule and it restricts Senators to make only two speeches per day (Irrespective of the length of the speech). But the rule clearly specifies it to be a “legislative day” and not calendar days. A legislative day generally lasts from adjournment to adjournment.

5) In case the Vice President is absent, the Senate must choose a President pro tempore in order to hold the office and execute the duties until another one is elected.

6) There is a Senate rule that specifies that Senators were allowed to drink milk or water on the Senate floor during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. It dates back to 1966, when Senator Everett Dirkson of Illinois was thirsty, he asked the presiding officer if it was against the Senator rules for a page boy to fetch some milk, the reply was a ‘no’. Later, it became a new rule!