Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Susan Collins received white powder letters at their offices Friday, joining more than a dozen lawmakers targeted in mailings now under FBI and Capitol Police investigation.

The New York Post reported that Cruz’s Houston office and Collins’ Portland office took delivery of envelopes containing a white powder, while federal agencies scrambled to contain a widening scare.

The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the letters. Some were intercepted before they reached their targets. Senate offices had already received a Thursday warning from Capitol Police that included a photo of the suspicious envelopes.

Cruz described the episode on X in plain terms.

"This afternoon, my Houston office received a suspicious piece of mail containing a white powder substance. The FBI, Houston Police and Fire Department, and U.S. Capitol Police responded swiftly."

He called the incident deeply concerning and said attempts to intimidate political opponents have no place in the country.

Collins’ Portland office faced an evacuation and emergency response after a similar letter arrived. A separate envelope mailed to her Washington office was stopped by Capitol Police before it could be delivered.

Collins staff calls it the fourth attack in two months

Katie Brown, Collins’ chief of staff, thanked first responders and framed the mailing as part of a recent pattern against the Maine Republican.

"Thank you to the Portland police, the Portland fire department, the hazmat team, and the FBI their quick and courageous response. This was the fourth attack targeting Sen Collins’ office or home in the past two months."

Brown added that the office would keep working for Maine residents despite escalating political rhetoric and harassment. Portland police, fire crews, a hazmat team, and the FBI all responded.

Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota also reported a suspicious piece of mail at his Sioux Falls office on Friday. Staff did not open it after the Capitol Police warning. Rounds credited the interception of other letters and the local police response, a stance familiar to Ted Cruz’s recent warnings about midterm pressure on Republican offices.

"I am grateful for the U.S. Capitol Police, who intercepted other letters and sent out a warning allowing my team to recognize this letter before opening it, and to the Sioux Falls Police Department. 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."

The FBI has not identified the powder. Officials have described it only as an unknown substance. No injuries, arrests, or charges have been announced.

Return address points to old DSA building in New York

A photo of one envelope in the Capitol Police warning showed a return address at 75 Maiden Lane in Manhattan’s Financial District. That building once appeared on Democratic Socialists of America membership forms.

A DSA representative said the group has not occupied the office address since 2013 and is no longer headquartered there. The denial leaves the return-address detail unexplained while investigators continue their work.

Democrats have been hit as well. New York Reps. Laura Gillen, Tom Suozzi, and Ritchie Torres, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, confirmed receiving letters. Reporting cited by the Post put the Democratic congressional total at least at 15 offices, with some 26 state election offices also targeted.

The bipartisan reach of the mailings lands amid other high-stakes fights that keep GOP senators scrambling under political pressure on multiple fronts.

Echoes of earlier Capitol mail threats

White powder letters carry a long shadow on Capitol Hill. In October 2001, an anthrax letter reached then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s office. That mailing spree killed five people and sickened at least 17. The building later required decontamination.

Ricin letters have also been sent to Senate offices in later years without causing deaths. The current wave has not been linked to those earlier attacks, and no laboratory result on the powder has been released.

Even so, the sequence is clear. A Thursday warning went out. Friday brought deliveries and interceptions in Houston, Portland, Sioux Falls, and Washington. Local police and fire departments joined federal teams. Offices shut down long enough for hazmat checks. Staff kept working under the threat.

Republican senators already juggle tough procedural and policy battles, from defeating contested State Department probes to broader oversight fights. Adding powder-laced mail to the workload is a different kind of pressure.

Cruz, Collins, and Rounds all described the tactic the same way: intimidation aimed at political opponents and the staff who serve them. Collins’ office alone has now logged four incidents against her workplace or home in two months, according to her chief of staff.

Investigators still have not named a sender or confirmed what the powder is. The DSA says the Maiden Lane address is years out of date. The letters keep arriving anyway.

Lawmakers also face intense scrutiny inside their own party, including debates over GOP senators pushing back on costly proposals and separate probes that draw FBI attention, as when Rick Scott backed Grassley’s hearing on Jack Smith subpoenas. None of that excuses mailing unknown powder to public offices.

Americans can argue hard over policy without stuffing powder into envelopes. Elected officials and their staff should not have to treat every piece of mail like a hazard call.