Senate email system crashes amid avalanche of reply-alls to security test
Emily Jacobs
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Senators and thousands of their staffers were forced to work without access to email on Friday after a security test caused the system to crash.
The incident occurred on Friday morning when Senate employees were prompted via email to respond to an emergency preparedness drill with their location. Of the thousands who were sent the test, hundreds hit “reply all” instead of “reply,” flooding the inboxes of every Senate staffer.
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Within half an hour of the first email, the entire Microsoft Outlook system had crashed and the Capitol Police issued an “all clear” on the security test.
Mairead Lynn, Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-PA) communications director, apologized in a series of posts on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, for being one of the staffers who hit “reply all” and sparking the crash.
“I’ll be walking into the sea,” she wrote of her shame.
House staffers were also sent a security test, though their email did not instruct recipients to reply with their location. Instead, they were directed to specific places for shelter.
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It is not clear if the Capitol Police administered the test on its own or in conjunction with the Senate sergeant-at-arms, which has a hand in overseeing the chamber’s IT and cybersecurity.
Neither could be reached for comment by the Washington Examiner on the matter.