The ‘Body Guy Caucus': The Lives of the Men and Women Paid to Shadow Senators

The job is part babysitter, part confidante and sometimes part purse-holder. But body people are essential to making the place work, senators say.

Sen. Ted Cruz walks into the Senate chamber

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is followed closely by his bodyman, Lee Dudley, who said he wears “many different hats” in his job. (Photo illustration by Kainaz Amaria/NOTUS; AP)

There’s a secretive cadre of young staffers whose job it is to make the Senate run more efficiently. They’re known informally as the “Body Guy Caucus,” though some are women.

They can be found by most senators’ sides, helping them navigate the maze of hallways, tunnels and subways in the Capitol complex as well as the crowds of reporters outside the Senate chamber who are eager to pounce on their bosses for a quote.

While most congressional staffers tend to work out of an office, a body person spends nearly every waking hour shadowing their boss, performing a unique set of duties that include valet, scheduler, traffic cop and sometimes even emotional support animal. It’s a position of trust many senators take very seriously, and one that comes with a high level of stress.