Congressional Democrats on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees are demanding President Donald Trump explain why Ukrainian forces’ access to SpaceX Starshield services was restricted earlier this week.

In a letter first reported by MS NOW, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Co., ranking member of the Armed Services Committee; Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member of the Select Committee on Intelligence; Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn.; and Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., lambasted the Trump administration for refusing to respond to congressional inquiries on who directed changes to Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink services.

The lawmakers were not satisfied with either the possibility that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX independently made the decision — which Musk has denied — or the U.S. government made the call.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk wrote Oct. 14 on X. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”

The Democratic lawmakers want the Trump administration to explain exactly who controls the crucial satellite connections Ukraine uses to defend itself.

“If a private company can unilaterally restrict a critical operational service governed by a signed contract with the Department of Defense during an active conflict, it raises serious concerns about public accountability and the outsized influence of private actors over U.S. national security matters,” the lawmakers wrote.

“If, on the other hand, the direction was given by your Administration, it raises serious questions about U.S. defense policy regarding Russia and Ukraine,” they added. “Either way, the American people, our allies, and Ukraine deserve to know why this decision with life-threatening consequences was made.”

A U.S. official, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation, told MS NOW that “no such request was ever made by the President.” The White House ignored repeated questions on whether another administration official or agency directed the change.

“As his popularity plummets at home, he’s shamefully abandoning our allies and once again cozying up to dictators,” Crow said in a statement, referring to Trump. “We need to stand with the people of Ukraine as Russia continues its war of aggression, not fund Putin’s war machine that is killing civilians.”

The Democrats noted the disruption to Ukraine’s military operations and defense capabilities put civilians at risk. The satellite signal disruptions also came amid Trump’s diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pressure on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian energy sites, despite its adversary failing to abide by the so-called energy ceasefire announced by Trump.

They asked for a response by Oct. 30.

Their letter, which did not include any Republican signatories, follows a bipartisan Senate effort calling for the Department of Defense Inspector General to investigate the Starlink disruptions in Ukraine.

On Thursday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., led a bipartisan letter seeking an investigation into whether the restricted Starshield service put U.S. diplomatic, military, and security personnel inside Ukraine in danger and who approved the disruptions.

Starshield speeds began to improve on Thursday, according to Ukrainian chargé d’affaires in Washington Denys Sienik.

“We hope all will be resumed to the previous level,” Sienik said in a statement. “Speed ​​is critical for logistics, and for intercepting the jet-powered Shahed drones especially when Russia constantly uses them to attack our cities and commit war crimes and when Foreign Minister Lavrov openly states that Russia opposes a ceasefire.”

A source familiar with the matter told MS NOW the Ukrainian government has yet to receive any response from SpaceX or the Pentagon.

Wednesday “saw one of the most massive Shahed attacks, occurring precisely when our defense system’s speed was being throttled, and the circumstances behind this are deeply concerning,” said the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

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