The President holds regular meetings with his Cabinet Secretaries and other Administration officials in the Cabinet Room. In 1970, President Richard Nixon used personal funds (about $4,000) to purchase the oval conference table that is still used in the room today. The President always sits at the center of the table opposite the Vice President with his back to the Rose Garden. Each Cabinet member is assigned a place at the table according to the date that their department was established; the oldest departments are seated closest to the President.

Presidents may select portraits of individuals that reflect their inspiration and governing style to hang in the Cabinet Room. In May 2009, President Barack Obama added a portrait of President Harry S. Truman by Frank O. Salisbury, lent by the Truman Library, to join existing portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt.