Mark Pocan

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan's Madison office received a suspicious piece of mail on Oct. 19, prompting a hazmat response from the Madison Fire Department. Staff recognized it as matching mailings sent to officials around the country containing an unidentified powdery substance; the envelope was not opened and its contents were sent for testing. Similar mail was earlier received by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore's Milwaukee office and the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Other targets reportedly include election offices in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Ohio, plus Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Chris Murphy and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester. The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating and working to identify those responsible ahead of the election.

Wisconsin's U.S. House delegation returned to Washington for a busy week before the Labor Day recess, with midterm politics dominating the agenda. Republican Reps. Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil attended a White House Rose Garden dinner for vulnerable GOP members, where President Trump pledged to campaign in battleground districts, singling out Tiffany's gubernatorial run against Democrat David Crowley. Van Orden faces a competitive re-election contest against Democrat Rebecca Cooke. Separately, Van Orden sponsored a bill loosening D.C. motorcycle helmet requirements to mirror Wisconsin law, drawing criticism from Rep. Mark Pocan.

The House also passed a Republican-led resolution denouncing socialism, tied to a contested voter ID measure, splitting largely along party lines. Lawmakers cleared a government funding extension to December 11, signed by Trump, avoiding a pre-election shutdown. The delegation also pressed Trump for a disaster declaration after July storms, while Wisconsin election officials warned that Trump's mail-in ballot executive order would be difficult to implement before November.