Follow-Up: Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Probe Into Musk Over Starlink Slowdown: Fitzpatrick Urges Sworn Testimony
Bipartisan lawmakers are calling for a congressional investigation into Elon Musk after The Wall Street Journal reported that the SpaceX chief personally authorized the throttling of Ukraine's military-grade Starlink service, the Journal reported. GSM reported earlier today on the Journal's attribution, on President Trump's statement that he did not know who ordered the slowdown, and on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that the United States never requested it.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told CNN on Tuesday that Congress should call Musk and other witnesses to testify under oath. "We got to investigate," he said. "We got to call the witnesses, got to bring them in, put them under oath and get to the bottom of it because this is a very, very serious matter." Fitzpatrick also said Congress could block funding for any federal agencies or agency heads that played any role in throttling the network.
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, in an X post on Tuesday, called for a Senate investigation and for Musk to testify under oath, writing: "National security decisions should be made in our national security interests, and not based on the personal whim of an unstable executive." Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said last week he was considering subpoenaing Musk or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if Democrats win control of the Senate in the midterm elections; on Tuesday, on MSNOW, he raised concerns about a single individual having control over such a strategically significant technology and asked why one man should have the same power as a four-star general over the outcome of a conflict.
Musk said Wednesday on X: "Some fools still think the legacy news is real. Amazing." It was not immediately clear whether he was referring to the Journal's report. SpaceX, which operates Starlink, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On October 14, Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations, was throttled, disrupting Ukrainian missions. Accounts of who ordered the slowdown have shifted since: officials have said the instruction came from inside the White House, senior U.S. officials have said the president never made such a request, and the Journal reported this week that Musk authorized the slowdown himself, while Trump said he did not know who was responsible and would like to find out.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：参议员 Adam Schiff 官方肖像。美国国会官方照片，公共领域，经维基共享资源。 / Official portrait of Sen. Adam Schiff. U.S. Congress official photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-16Update: Trump Denies Ordering Limits on Ukraine's Starshield System, Says Saudis May Accept Israeli Help Against the Houthis
- 2026-10-17Follow-Up: Order to Limit Starshield for Ukraine Came From Inside the White House, Sources Say; Senior U.S. Official Says President Made No Such Request
- 2026-10-18Follow-Up: Rep. Mike Turner Demands Congressional Investigation Into Ukraine Starlink Slowdown, Calls Rubio's Explanation 'Absolutely Not' Sufficient
- 2026-10-21Rubio Takes Questions in Mumbai: U.S. Never Asked Starlink to Slow Ukraine Service; Witkoff to Carry Proposal to Putin
- 2026-10-21Follow-Up: Musk Personally Authorized Starshield Slowdown for Ukraine, WSJ Reports; Trump Says He Did Not Know, Rubio Says U.S. Never Asked
- 2026-10-21Follow-Up: Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Probe Into Musk Over Starlink Slowdown: Fitzpatrick Urges Sworn TestimonyThis story
- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: Senator Blumenthal Opens Inquiry into Ukraine's Loss of Starshield Service, Asks Hegseth Who Ordered the Cap
- 2026-10-23Follow-Up: Trump Says Musk Restored Ukraine's Starshield Access; Kyiv Says Speed Caps Remain in Place
- 2026-10-23Zelensky Says Starshield Speed Limits Still in Place; Patriot Interceptor Deliveries Still Delayed
- 2026-10-23Trump Personally Called Musk on October 21 to Lift Restrictions on Militarized Starlink in Ukraine, WSJ Reports
- 2026-10-24Follow-Up: Ukraine Says Starlink and Starshield Back Above 400 kph After Week of Throttling
- 2026-10-25Follow-Up: Musk Admits SpaceX Throttled Starlink in Ukraine, Citing Terms Violations; Zelenskyy Says Kyiv Believed the U.S. Government Was Behind the Restrictions
