For the first time, both House cloakrooms are helmed by women

Jackie Wang, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 2, 2026

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WASHINGTON — When Ella Gunn first got the chance to work in the House Republican Cloakroom, she readied herself with the methodical focus of a student cramming for a final exam.

“There’s not a lot you can do to prepare,” she said. “I studied the members for hours and hours, literally. I had my dad quiz me. I had my mom quiz me. I made actual flash cards.”

Three years later, Gunn officially became the House Republican Cloakroom’s floor director. Soon thereafter, Rosemary Keating started in her role as House Democratic Cloakroom manager. Their September hires marked a milestone for the House: the first time both cloakrooms are led by women.

Keating is the first woman to serve as House Democratic Cloakroom manager, succeeding Bob Fischer, who retired at the end of September.

“That’s historical,” she said of her new role. “I feel very proud to work here.”

Gunn got her start as a 2019 intern for former Rep. Kevin McCarthy before he became speaker. After college, she returned to work for McCarthy as a staff assistant. She moved to the cloakroom after the California Republican was elected speaker.

Gunn isn’t the first woman to manage the House Republican Cloakroom; that distinction goes to Sarah Coyle, who led the cloakroom from 2021 to 2022. But, at 25, Gunn is the youngest.

Their promotions reflect the ever-increasing presence of women in the Capitol, both at the staff level and among members of Congress.

The number of women in Congress has more than doubled in the last two decades. In the 119th Congress, there are a total of 151 women in the House and Senate, excluding delegates. That’s up from 74 women in the 108th Congress.

While the balance of men and women working in member offices is roughly equal today, data shows that women are much less likely to serve in senior roles, said Kelly Ditmar, director of research at the Center for American Women in Politics. She noted that there isn’t similar data on the wider workforce in the Capitol complex.

“In any of these roles, usually you can find some ways in which having a different perspective or lived experiences as women might influence how they do their job, who they hire, who they bring into the fold to help and support the work that they do, how they interact with members,” she said.

The change in cloakroom leadership was enough for Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in House history, to express some optimism for the future.

“Let’s hope that, with women in leadership in the actual bowels of the institution, that we will have a better cooperative effort by both sides of the aisle,” Kaptur said.

Cloakroom family ties

Keating first joined the House Democratic Cloakroom in 2014 as an assistant manager. She previously worked as part of the Democrats’ floor team.

A former insurance agency executive, Keating initially applied to work in the House with the encouragement of her family. Three of her six brothers previously worked in the Capitol, including her brother Tim, who was assistant cloakroom manager before he became a lobbyist. Keating now leads a team of all women in the cloakroom, another first.

In an interview before he retired, Fischer said he had always kept Keating in mind as a possible successor.

“As a father of two daughters, I couldn’t be prouder for some of these milestone accomplishments that I’ve either witnessed or been a small part of,” he said.

These days, the cloakrooms function as information and communication hubs designed to keep members apprised of floor activity. But they once served as literal cloakrooms for members to store their bulky coats and bags too large to be kept at their seats.

They also are spaces for members to rest, eat and meet with colleagues. And of course there are the physical differences one might expect — the carpet in the House Republican Cloakroom is red, while the Democratic side has blue.

Keating points out that services are key to cloakroom operations, noting that members don’t have staff with them, so if they need information on a bill or to clarify a vote, that’s where her staff comes in. The job of running the cloakroom also requires discretion.

“We’re here for one purpose. … It’s their place to come and to be able to talk freely and not, you know, have to worry about something being repeated,” Keating said.

While the cloakrooms have largely looked the same for decades, they both lost couches in recent years. Before he retired, Fischer oversaw renovations to the Democratic cloakroom. Now the space is furnished with black leather armchairs, firm tufted sofas and a couple of round tables surrounded by high-back chairs.

On the Republican side, former Speaker John A. Boehner swapped in chairs to discourage napping, but some members still find ways to catch some shut-eye.

“They do still nap,” Gunn said. “They just sit up.”

So far, Gunn says no members ensconced in the cloakroom have missed a vote on her watch: “I would feel enormous guilt if that happened, and it hasn’t happened yet, thank goodness.”