Hideaway Redistricting in Full Tilt
Roll Call Staff
Clarification Appended
When Joseph Biden moved from the Senate to the White House, he left behind a piece of Capitol real estate that took him 30 years to acquire: an office near the floor with a full bathroom, fireplace and chandelier.
Like many of his Senate colleagues, Biden used this second office as a “hideaway” to hold meetings, entertain guests or take a break between votes.
Once he left, Room S-124 came up for grabs — and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest-serving Member in his chamber, quickly snatched it up.
But Byrd already had a nice hideaway in S-126, thanks to 50 years in the Senate. So he asked the Senate Rules and Administration Committee to redesignate his old digs as space for the President Pro Tem.
Byrd, of course, is the President Pro Tem. And now he has the benefit of two convenient and impressive Capitol hideaways.
Rumors abound that the Senator also has acquired several other nooks and crannies in the Capitol during his tenure, though his spokesman said he was “not aware” of any others.
“When he leaves the Senate, they’ll find enough room for a fourth building,” joked one source who knows the hideaway process well.
Such is the wheeling and dealing associated with one of Congress’ oldest institutions: the Capitol hideaway.
Around for more than a century, the rooms act as an oasis away from hurried staffers and curious reporters. Some Senators use them to hold last-minute meetings; others slip in for a quick nap before a vote.
Senate officials estimate that about 80 are available, all doled out based on seniority.
“Some of them are very large, with marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers,” Senate Associate Historian Don Ritchie said. “Some are little windowless pie wedges and basement cubicles. Some of them are barely enough for one person get into.”
Every Congress, Senators get a chance to move up — the more Senators who leave, the more opportunities for ascension. And this year, an unusually large number of senior Senators left legendary hideaways behind.
Former Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and John Warner (R-Va.) were all near the top of the Senate’s seniority list, at Nos. 4, 5 and 12. Biden was No. 6.
Compare that with the 110th Congress, when the only Senator in the top 20 who left was Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.).
The Senate Rules and Administration Committee has already begun the process of doling out hideaways. Starting with No. 1 on the seniority list, officials give each Senator eight business hours to decide whether to switch.
Several sources said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is No. 2 in seniority, kept his hideaway, though Senate leaders loaned him a space closer to the floor after he was diagnosed with cancer.
And No. 3 on the list, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), already enjoys a room with a working fireplace and large windows.
But Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who moved from No. 7 to No. 4 this Congress, said he was leaving his hideaway of 20 years for one that sounded suspiciously like that of Stevens, balcony and all.
His old hideaway had a working fireplace, but “this one I kind of like the view,” he said.
Windows, bathrooms, balconies and fireplaces aren’t the only perks that draw Senators to hideaways. Many hold historical significance as the former offices of the Supreme Court, Library of Congress and legendary Members.
One of Leahy’s old hideaways is dubbed the Daniel Webster Wine Room because the 19th-century Senator used it as his wine cellar. Biden’s was filled with antiques from the time when Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) resided there.
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