Suspicious substance found in envelopes sent to offices of Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen

Long Island's two House Democrats — Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen — were among the latest members of Congress to receive an envelope with a suspicious powder on Friday.

Authorities responded to Suozzi's Queens office on Friday afternoon after an employee in his office discovered a letter with a saltlike substance inside. On Friday evening, Gillen, of Rockville Centre, said in a post on X that her office had also received a "suspicious envelope."

Suozzi, of Glen Cove, in a brief phone interview, told Newsday around 3 p.m. one of his district office employees opened an envelope addressed to the congressman and noticed a brown, saltlike substance in the envelope.

The envelopes were received just a day after dozens of lawmakers and state election departments received similar envelopes that are currently being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police.

Those envelopes contained a powdery substance that authorities said appeared to be nontoxic. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate minority leader, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) both reported having similar letters intercepted on Thursday.

Suozzi said the employee immediately called the U.S. Capitol Police to notify them of the envelope and then called 911, prompting a swift response from the NYPD. The contents of the envelope were examined, and two of his district employees who were at the office were examined by medics on the scene out of an abundance of caution and said they felt fine. An employee told Suozzi that authorities believe the substance is nontoxic.

"I'm worried about my employees, they shouldn't have to go through things like that," Suozzi said. "Unfortunately, there's just a lot of extremists out there these days, and we have to bring our country together. We have to stop feeding all this extremism and hateful behavior."

Gillen, in a statement, said her staff was safe but called for an end to political violence and threats.

"There is no excuse for acts of violence or intimidation against elected officials in our country," she said. "We have to lower the temperature and rise above the hatred, vitriol and extremism that is seeping into our politics."

The U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately return an email seeking comment. There was a heavy police presence outside of Suozzi’s Douglaston office on Friday evening, with officers spotted moving in and out of the office.

The offices of Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said Thursday they did not receive a letter.

A number of Republican lawmakers reported receiving similar envelopes over the past two days.

The House of Representatives' sergeant-at-arms on Thursday urged all House offices to keep an eye out for additional letters.

For many lawmakers, the letters reignited the fears of 2001, when envelopes containing a powdery substance, later confirmed to be anthrax, were sent to politicians and media outlets across the country.

Newsday's Joseph Ostapiuk contributed to this story.