Since taking office in January, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said he has been busy cleaning up messes left by his predecessor.
Moreno alleged that longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s handling of the transition left Ohioans in the lurch, and claimed Brown closed offices and constituent cases without any communication.
“He never called me, he never conceded, closed all of his offices, closed all of his constituent cases, and left a total mess for us to clean up,” The Toledo Blade quoted Moreno.
Moreno visited Tuscarawas County last weekend to endorse Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. It was his first public event in Ohio since January’s swearing.
Moreno and other newly elected Senators across the United States have been bombarded by inquiries—and complaints—from constituents. In part, the calls are related to questions about federal funding cuts and other executive orders issued by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency.
In the past month, constituents have expressed frustrations over full voicemail inboxes and delayed responses from Ohio’s senators. A spokesman for Moreno’s office told The Blade that Brown’s closed cases are not related to the increase in calls to his office.
Moreno is taking his own heat from angry Ohio residents who said they received a generic reply to their emails, Cleveland.com reported. Some said they received multiple copies of the same form email.
And U.S. Sen. Jon Husted has run into staffing challenges after being appointed to the Senate seat in January to fill Vice President JD Vance’s vacancy. Husted said the most frustrating part of his job, so far, has been not being able to provide good customer service for constituents.
In a Cleveland.com article from February, Husted’s office “resembles a vacant call center, with a trio of workers in one corner busily working the phones.”
“It’s been exciting, but I need to get the team on board, which I’m doing very aggressively, as fast as we can,” Husted said.
According to the Congressional Research Service, casework often refers to constituent requests seeking assistance from federal agencies, but congressional offices can have different definitions of what constitutes casework.
Most people who request casework services are constituents residing in a senator’s state. Other recipients may be local governments or nonprofits seeking grants or other assistance, The Blade reported. Senators often act as liaisons between the federal government and local governments concerned with the effects of federal legislation.
In one example, Carrie Hartman, a Democrat and president of Toledo City Council, said she requested a meeting with Ohio’s senators while attending the National League of Cities conference in Washington. Hartman wanted to know about federal funding Toledo received under previous presidential administrations and if it would continue.
Meanwhile, Brown’s political future remains uncertain, with people wondering if he will attempt a comeback and run for Ohio’s governor or senator next year, The Hill reports. Brown, who served in the U.S. Senate since 2007, lost to Moreno in November in what became one of the most expensive U.S. Senate races ever.
