Inside the Senate's 'Body Guy Caucus': Young Aides Who Shadow Senators — and Guard a False Tooth
Key Takeaways
- •Young aides known informally as the "Body Guy Caucus" trail senators through the Capitol, performing duties that combine those of a valet, scheduler, and traffic cop, even though some members are women.
- •The role has long existed in presidential politics, with Blake Gottesman serving George W. Bush and former Duke basketball player Reggie Love serving Barack Obama.
- •Assignments can be strikingly personal, including one body person being sent to buy nylons and another being entrusted with an envelope holding a senator's false tooth.
- •Senators are divided on the practice, with Ted Cruz calling the body man one of the most important roles in politics while Kevin Cramer dismisses it as a waste of time and Cynthia Lummis cites her ranching roots as a reason she needs more personal space.
- •The position is entirely unofficial, with no Senate rule or formal job description creating it, and every senator quoted in the NOTUS report is a Republican.
A quiet workforce keeps the U.S. Senate running, and its members would prefer to go unnoticed.
They are the "body people" — young aides who trail senators through the Capitol's maze of tunnels, subways and reporter scrums. The group is known informally as the "Body Guy Caucus," even though some of its members are women, according to a new report from NOTUS.
The job blends the duties of a valet, a scheduler and a traffic cop, with a considerable amount of emotional labor thrown in, several current and former body people told the outlet.
"It is literally Gary from 'Veep,'" one former body person said, comparing the role to the put-upon aide on the HBO series. Another called it "the craziest position to have on the Hill, and it is the best position to have on the Hill," noting that 22-year-olds can find themselves "babysitting some of the most important and powerful people in the country."
The archetype is not new, and it is not limited to the Senate. The "body man" has long been a fixture of presidential politics: Blake Gottesman performed the role for George W. Bush, and Reggie Love, a former Duke basketball player, did the same for Barack Obama, in a post defined by near-constant availability.
The assignments can turn strikingly personal. One body person was dispatched to buy nylons for their boss, NOTUS reported, while another was once entrusted with safeguarding an envelope holding a senator's false tooth.
Some senators lean heavily on the arrangement. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who moves through the Capitol accompanied by a body person, a policy or press aide and a security aide, told NOTUS, "The body man's one of the most important roles in politics." Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was recently spotted with a male aide trailing her, purse in hand.
Others want no part of it. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) dismissed the idea as a "waste of time," adding, "I'm not that insecure." Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) pointed to her ranching roots: "I need more personal space than a lot of Easterners do."
Either way, the position remains an unofficial one — no Senate rule or formal job description creates it, and each office decides for itself whether to fill it. Notably, every senator quoted in the report, adherents and skeptics alike, is a Republican.
