High call volume crashes U.S. Senate phones, preventing area residents from voicing concerns

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., right, speaks as Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, left, listens at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., right, speaks as Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, left, listens at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Area residents are expressing frustration about not being able to share their views with the U.S. senators representing them in Ohio after Senate phone lines went down due to high call volume.

Around noon, a Dayton Daily News reporter was able to get through to a staffer in Sen. Bernie Moreno’s office using the publicly listed number. A call to Sen. Jon Husted’s office went to voicemail. Both numbers gave only a busy signal a half hour before.

Senate phones have been having trouble on and off over the past week because of “unusually high call volume,” according to a message to Senate staff Tuesday afternoon from the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms, which provides technology support with Senate offices.

“Assisting Ohioans in need is Senator Moreno’s top priority,” said Reagan McCarthy, Moreno’s communications director when contacted by this news outlet. “While the Senate has been dealing with an exceptionally high volume of calls, our office is committed to responding to each and every Ohioan in need of assistance and working through all requests as quickly as possible.”

“It’s a shame Democrat dark money groups have decided their petty political projects are more important than the needs of our constituents,” McCarthy said.

Drew Thompson, a spokesman for Husted, said: “The Senator’s top priority is customer service and open lines of communication with constituents... Staff are responding to calls as rapidly as the system currently allows.”

Several people reached out to this news outlet Wednesday morning complaining about not being able to get through to their senators.

Anne Jantzen of Seven Mile called both Husted’s and Moreno’s offices and couldn’t get through.

“I wanted to express my opinion on (Elon) Musk and his, it looks like, takeover of the government and he’s not an elected official. It’s very upsetting to me,” she told this news outlet.

Carol Parete of Vandalia wanted to share her concerns with her elected officials about President Donald Trump proposing the U.S. “take over” Gaza and settle the people there in nearby countries. She calls the idea “absolutely crazy” and hypocritical of an administration that wants to reduce foreign aid and not take in refugees.

Parete said she tried repeatedly to contact Moreno’s office, then gave up.

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