Cloakrooms

The locker rooms of the House and Senate are the cloakrooms, narrow L-shaped rooms along the sides and rear of the two chambers. Originally designed to hold coats, the hideaways now feature well-worn leather chairs, refrigerators stocked with soda and candy, and televisions. When a series of votes is taking place on the floor, legislators congregate in the cloakrooms, where they are able to relax while remaining only steps from the chamber.

Cloakrooms are Democratic or Republican; each party oversees the cloakroom on its side of the chamber. Employees assigned to the cloakrooms prepare messages several times a day describing floor action and floor schedules. These recorded updates are available by telephone.

In addition to the cloakrooms, both chambers maintain special lounges for women members and the wives of male members. The Senate Ladies' Lounge underwent renovation in 1998. The comparable facility on the House side of the Capitol is the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women's Reading Room. Boggs was a Democrat from Louisiana who served in the House from 1973 to 1991.