In turns a Colorado newspaper editor, U.S. representative (1913–1919) from Colorado, advocate for better conditions for the working class, and long-time editor (1919–1953) of the newspaper Labor (jointly owned by several railroad unions), Keating engaged in many political campaigns throughout the United States to elect union-friendly legislators.

Huey Long wrote in his book My First Days in the White House that he wanted Keating to be Secretary of Labor were he to become president.

In 1916, Keating and senator Robert L. Owen (D-OK) co-sponsored a bill called the Keating–Owen Child Labor Act of 1916, which restricted the interstate commerce of goods produced by children.

The act was declared unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart; nevertheless, it is regarded as a landmark in the story of the regulation of child labor in the United States.

He was a member of the Congressional Joint Committee on Reclassification of Salaries for Civilian Employees in the District of Columbia from March 1919 to April 1920.

[5] Under the pen name Raymond Lonergan, he contributed a weekly Washington column for the Chicago Tribune during most of his years as Labor's editor.

It contained five sections: early life, newspaper and political stories, interesting people, congressional experiences, and the railroad unions.