--- title: John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Birthday During Lent description: John Boehner gave Nancy Pelosi chocolate for her birthday even though she gave it up for Lent. canonical: https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-26T22:31:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:14.092Z og:title: Boehner Gives Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday Even Though She Gave It Up for Lent og:description: Maybe it's the thought that counts? og:url: https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boehner Gives Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday Even Though She Gave It Up for Lent twitter:description: Maybe it's the thought that counts? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday, Which Is a Bummer 'Cause She Gave It Up for Lent > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 26, 2014 10:31 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 26, 2014 10:31 PM UTC It’s hard enough to give up a favorite food during Lent, but it’s even harder when someone sends you a lot of it. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pints of chocolate gelato for her birthday today. “Here’s hoping — and guessing — you didn’t give up chocolate for Lent,” says a letter addressed from Boehner. She posted the present on Instagram: Indeed, the Congresswoman did give up chocolate, _The Huffington Post_‘s Jennifer Bendery tweeted yesterday: Pelosi informed a few of us she gave up chocolate for Lent. How's it going, I asked. "Terrible. I'm dying." — Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) [March 25, 2014](https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/448559961812250624?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) It’s no secret on the Hill that Pelosi is a chocoholic. She [credited](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/pelosis-secret-weapon-in-health-care-debate-chocolate/?%5Fphp=true&%5Ftype=blogs&%5Fr=0) Ghirardelli chocolate squares for getting her through the health care debate in 2010\. “I knew I loved my husband when I said I would give up chocolate for him,” she [told](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/nancy-pelosi-chocolate%5Fn%5F1811217.html) that same _Huffington Post’s_ Bendery in 2012\. “But I also knew he loved me because he’d never ask me to do such a thing.” **WATCH:** [John Boehner on How to Pronounce His Name](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/john-boehner-finally-clears-up-the-confusion-about-how-to-pronounce-his-name/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/"},"headline":"John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday, Which Is a Bummer 'Cause She Gave It Up for Lent","datePublished":"2014-03-26T22:31:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:14.092Z","description":"Maybe it's the thought that counts?","url":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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