Jeff Carey is a veteran reporter covering sports and architecture. He was the founding editor of the Minneapolis Mini Times, a local paper with a circulation of more than 500,000. He divides his time between the east and west coast.
Washington, D.C. — A recent cloud infrastructure outage has unexpectedly found itself at the center of a political story. Congressman Clay Higgins (R-La.) stated Tuesday that his “no” vote on the motion to release files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case was the result of a Cloudflare outage that disrupted access to several major online platforms, including Twitter (now X).
According to Higgins, the outage prevented him from gauging public opinion. “When communication channels are down, it’s difficult to get a real-time sense of what constituents believe about sensitive issues,” he told reporters outside the Capitol. “Normally, I monitor social feedback to stay aligned with the people I serve. Yesterday, that wasn’t possible.”
The outage, which Cloudflare confirmed affected parts of the eastern United States for several hours, caused widespread web disruptions. Government websites, news organizations, and social media platforms temporarily lost functionality. Experts described it as one of the more significant service interruptions in recent months.
Political analysts were quick to note the unusual nature of Higgins’ explanation. While some supporters online defended his transparency, others questioned the reliance on social media as a guide for legislative decision-making. “Constituent engagement is broader than Twitter replies,” said Dr. Lila Mercer, a political science professor at Tulane University. “Relying heavily on one platform can skew perception, especially during outages.”
Higgins clarified that he intends to revisit his stance if the measure is amended and returns to the House, “once communication systems are stable.”
As of Wednesday morning, Cloudflare reported that all services had been restored.
Jeff Carey is a veteran reporter covering sports and architecture. He was the founding editor of the Minneapolis Mini Times, a local paper with a circulation of more than 500,000. He divides his time between the east and west coast.
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