Letters mailed to lawmakers around the country containing suspicious powder were not harmful, according to a notice sent to congressional offices and shared with The Washington Sun on Monday.
The House sergeant at arms “continues to monitor incidents of letters containing a white powder that have been mailed to several Congressional offices,” the notice, sent by Sergeant at Arms William McFarland, said. “None of the letters received by Congressional offices have been determined to contain hazardous substances.”
The FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the letters. Capitol Police and the Postal Service referred questions to the FBI.
“The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.
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As of Monday morning, around 40 members of Congress in both parties had reported receiving the suspicious mail. Lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) were among those targeted.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum condemned the influx of the letters amid rising political violence in the country. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) said in a post on X Friday that his Sioux Falls office was evacuated and closed on Friday after receiving a suspicious letter.
“This situation is deeply concerning and follows a trend of intimidating tactics that impact our team members. This has no place in our nation. America is better than this,” Rounds said.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) called on the FBI to “apprehend and prosecute those responsible” for disseminating the letters.
“Anyone or any group who thinks they can scare or intimidate Members of Congress or our teams from doing our job and work on behalf of the people we represent is sorely mistaken,” he said in a statement.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, echoed those calls after his office in Rocklin, California, closed following the delivery of a similar letter.
“No one should have to worry for their safety simply because they go to work for the American people,” Kiley said in a statement. “This incident highlights — once again — why we need to bring down the temperature in our politics and embrace a return to civility and commonsense.”
The FBI said that it is working to respond to each incident and identify the “individual or individuals” responsible, adding “this FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens.”
The incident comes exactly 25 years after a series of letters containing anthrax were mailed to Capitol Hill offices in 2001. Those letters were directed to two Democrats — former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy.
Mailed just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the letters caused 22 cases of anthrax poisoning and killed five people.
A notice sent to Senate offices on Thursday warned offices about the suspicious packages and advised staffers on how to identify and handle potentially suspicious items. It noted that mail and packages sent to offices in the Capitol complex are screened at off-site locations, a practice begun after the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Many of the lawmakers targeted said that U.S. Capitol Police intercepted the mail before it arrived at their offices, though others received the mail at their state or local offices.
“Thanks to existing safety protocols and the swift action taken by the officers, neither the Senator nor her staff are in any immediate danger,” Blunt Rochester’s office said in a statement.
The suspicious letters also follow a series of mailings to secretaries of state and related election offices in at least 15 states about two weeks until Election Day.
Threats against election workers have increased in recent years — election officials in nearly 20 states received suspicious packages with nonhazardous substances ahead of the 2024 election, and election officials in at least five states received envelopes, some laced with fentanyl, in 2023.
Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, whose office received one of the letters on Wednesday, said he would not be intimidated by the threat ahead of the November election, where his office is overseeing a particularly close Senate race.
“We’re certainly not distracted or deterred by that kind of thing,” he told The Sun. “It’s unfortunate, but law enforcement did what they’re supposed to do and we’re focused on running good elections for the people of Ohio.”
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