Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) publicly urged Elon Musk on Tuesday to come forward voluntarily rather than wait for a subpoena, following a report that Musk ordered a slowdown of the military-grade Starlink service Ukraine relies on.
Gallego’s full post, published at 3:53 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2026, read:
“.@elonmusk you don’t have to wait for a subpoena, you can just come in on your own.”
The report Gallego linked
The post linked a Wall Street Journal report saying Musk ordered the slowdown of the military version of Starlink, a decision the report said sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration. U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter were cited.
The slowdown began Oct. 14. The report said Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected, rendering some offensive and interceptor drones virtually useless. Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment said the connection had remained below 130 kilometers per hour, hampering Ukrainian strike operations and air defenses.
The report said both Musk and Trump had expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries. Musk posted on X that any limits are decided by the U.S. military and “ultimately POTUS,” and Trump told reporters Monday he did not know who was responsible but wanted to find out.
Some U.S. officials said Musk acted unilaterally, the report said, but another person said Musk spoke with multiple senior administration officials, including Trump, before imposing the cap. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, and Hegseth said Tuesday that Starlink has the option to make decisions about its terms of service.
Gallego’s earlier statements on Musk and Starlink
Tuesday’s post followed one three days earlier. On Oct. 17, Gallego told Musk to “make sure @Starlink keeps all records and communications regarding your alliance with Russia,” and warned that subpoenas were coming. He added that the European market would want to know what happened.
Gallego’s posts do not cite evidence of an alliance between Musk and Russia, and the linked report did not describe one. Musk has previously said Starlink would never turn off its terminals in Ukraine, a pledge he made in 2025 after a dispute with Poland’s foreign minister.
Congress has examined Starlink in Ukraine before. In 2023, then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) announced a probe after reports that Musk had blocked Ukrainian access near Crimea. Reed said no private citizen should have the last word on U.S. national security.
Gallego’s record on Ukraine
Gallego has made Ukraine a recurring subject since before the invasion. A month before it began, he led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine as chairman of a House Armed Services subcommittee, and in February 2025 he gave his first Senate floor speech on a resolution condemning the U.S. vote against a U.N. measure blaming Russia for the war.
In that speech he said, “this is a war that Russia started.” Senate Republicans objected to the effort, his office said.
At the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum, Gallego said the U.S. should arm Ukraine and give it intelligence, and argued that a “bad peace deal” would not be honored by Russia.
Gallego’s post did not specify which committee would issue a subpoena, and his office did not immediately say whether a formal request to Musk had been made. SpaceX did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.