Schiff says Hegseth should testify on Starlink limits that hit Ukrainian forces

Mixed · 2Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on 25 October that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should testify before the Senate about Starlink satellite restrictions that disrupted Ukrainian military operations. 1 2 Mixed · 2Asked by moderator Kristen Welker, Schiff said Hegseth and "anyone who has knowledge of what happened" should be called if Democrats retake the Senate in the midterm elections. 1 2 Left · 1Schiff said the president and Elon Musk had given differing accounts, adding: "Somebody is lying here. Maybe they’re all lying in different ways, but we need to find out." 1

Mixed · 2He also said the world's richest person should not control US national security interests, called that a "spectacular threat" if true, and said Republicans had been unwilling to ask what changed in the past week and what effect it had on Ukraine's ability to defend itself. 1 2 Mixed · 2Ukrainian officials said access to Starlink and Starshield, SpaceX's military network, was restricted without advance warning, and that a speed limit on Starlink terminals disrupted battlefield operations; Ukraine said the disruptions made it harder to intercept incoming Russian attacks. 2 1 Mixed · 2Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 18 October that the instruction came from the US government and was technically implemented by SpaceX. Reuters reported on 22 October, citing two US officials and a Western official, that the order came from inside the White House, though a senior US official told Reuters that "no such request was ever made by the president." 1 2

Left · 1The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump called Musk and asked him to lift the restrictions, and Trump said on Thursday that Musk had restored Starlink in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the suggestion that the US government denied Ukraine something it needed was "not true." 1 Mixed · 2Musk wrote on X that Ukraine's military violated Starlink's terms of service by using it for offensive drone strikes, that a "loophole was closed," and that the company enforced its terms. He had earlier said limits on Starshield were decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Serhii Beskrestnov, a defence technology adviser to Zelensky, disputed Musk's account, saying existing restrictions already prevented such use. 2 1 Mixed · 2On Saturday 24 October Zelensky said Starlink and Starshield speeds had been restored to their pre-restriction levels and thanked Americans, members of Congress and the president for helping. 2 1

Centre · 1Other lawmakers have sought scrutiny too: nine bipartisan senators, led by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and including Republicans Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, John Cornyn and Lisa Murkowski, asked the Pentagon inspector general to investigate, and Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, called for a congressional investigation. Newsweek said it asked the Defense Department for comment from Hegseth and had received none in its report. 2