WASHINGTON - Authorities found nothing hazardous in two U.S. Senate office buildings after investigating reports of suspicious packages and a telephoned bomb threat, U.S. Capitol Police said on Tuesday.
Spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider said police cleared a room in the Dirksen building and the courtyard of the Russell building , both near the U.S. Capitol, and found nothing problematic.
Part of Dirksen was evacuated after Capitol Police received a bomb threat by phone call, and police investigated a report of a suspicious package in that building.
People were not cleared from Russell, where an unattended lunch cooler was reported as a possible suspicious package, Schneider said.
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The two buildings house various offices for U.S. senators and their staff as well as hearing rooms.
The Dirksen building evacuation interrupted a Senate hearing on the Transportation Security Administration , which is responsible for security at airports.
"The threat was determined false," said Republican Senator Ron Johnson , who came back after the all-clear to close the hearing he chaired.
