Republican senators join Democrats in demanding answers from the Pentagon regarding the Starlink outages that weakened Ukraine's defenses

Four Republican senators joined Democrats on Thursday to demand an investigation into the disruptions to Ukraine's access to U.S.-backed intelligence-sharing systems and Starlink communications, warning that such disruptions could endanger U.S. personnel and weaken Ukrainian defenses against Russian attacks. Republican Senators John Cornyn (Texas), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and Susan Collins (Maine) signed the letter alongside Democrats Chris Coons (Delaware), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), and Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We urgently request an Inspector General investigation into these incidents, including whether actions or decisions by the Department of Defense or its contractors contributed to these dangerous circumstances," the senators wrote in the letter, led by Shaheen, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which was addressed to the Pentagon's inspector general, Platte Moring.

"We write with grave concern regarding reported disruptions to critical U.S.-supported communications and intelligence-sharing capabilities in Ukraine that have endangered American personnel and potentially compromised Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. These restrictions reportedly degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure," the lawmakers wrote, and then asked Moring to determine as soon as possible whether the disruptions were the result of changes in U.S. government policy and whether officials had authorized or anticipated those changes.

Several members of the Ukrainian government said on Wednesday that the loss of access to data from Starlink and Starshield was due to decisions made by President Donald Trump's administration. Starlink is a satellite communications network owned by Elon Musk, while Starshield is its military-focused counterpart. 

Regarding the controversy, Musk denied responsibility for Ukraine's loss of access to essential Starshield capabilities in a post on his X account, noting that the Pentagon controls the military communications system and explaining that Starshield systems "are owned and controlled by the U.S. government."