Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that a reported slowdown of a military-grade Starlink service used by Ukraine was “wrong and completely unacceptable.” She said Congress needs to know how it happened and who in the administration knew about the action and allowed it.
Gillibrand posted on X at 1:44 PM on Oct. 21, 2026, responding to a Wall Street Journal report on the slowdown. Her post did not name Starlink or Musk directly.
Her full post read:
“Wrong and completely unacceptable.
We need to know how this happened, and who in the administration knew and allowed this action.”
What the Wall Street Journal Reported
The Journal reported Oct. 20 that Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine. It said the decision sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration.
Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected last week, the report said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless. The slowdown began Oct. 14. Ukrainian officials said it let Russian missiles evade their defenses.
The Journal said Musk and Trump discussed the decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public. One person said they discussed it before the throttle. Some officials said Musk acted unilaterally. Another person said Musk spoke with multiple senior administration officials, including Trump, before imposing the cap.
The Competing Accounts
Musk wrote on X, “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Trump told reporters Monday that he did not know who was responsible, “but I would like to find out.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon has “made any directives” — in his words, “We haven’t made any directives or anything like that.” He added that Starlink has the option to make decisions about its terms of service.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that claims the administration cut intelligence support were “not true.” He later acknowledged there is “no doubt” about rising tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
Gillibrand’s post asks who in the administration “knew and allowed” the action. The Journal reported that SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts during the uproar. They sought a unified message that the company and the administration had coordinated before Musk’s directive, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Broader Context
The slowdown followed statements by the Trump administration that Ukrainian officials viewed as hostile, the Journal reported, and spiked U.S.-Ukraine tensions to their highest level since the Oval Office clash last year. On Oct. 10, Trump said Zelenskyy “better damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries. Musk responded to a White House video of those remarks on X: “Zelensky has gone too far.”
Gillibrand’s Record on Ukraine and Russia
Gillibrand’s post does not mention her past statements on Ukraine, so the record below is drawn from her public statements and press releases.
On Feb. 24, 2022, she called Putin’s war “unprovoked, unnecessary and unjustified.” She said the U.S. must lead the effort to hold Russia accountable and impose “crushing sanctions.”
In March 2022, after a trip to Europe, she told reporters it was crucial for the U.S. to send more weapons to Ukraine. She called for tougher sanctions and called Putin a “war criminal” for bombing schools and hospitals. She sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
She has also discussed Ukraine in her role on the Senate Intelligence Committee. In a 2022 interview, she said she wanted “crippling” sanctions on Putin and Russian oligarchs.
Oversight Efforts by Other Senators
Other Democratic senators have raised similar contractor-control concerns before. In September 2023, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Jeanne Shaheen and Tammy Duckworth wrote Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about Starlink in Ukraine. They said it would pose “grave national security risks” if contractors could independently cut off services.