Bipartisan senators ask Pentagon to answer for Ukraine Starlink restrictions

GOP senators press Pentagon over Starlink restrictions in Ukraine

Four Republican senators joined their Democratic colleagues in pressing the Trump administration for information about whether Pentagon officials ordered restrictions on Ukraine’s access to the satellite-based Starshield network .

Ukraine needs access to fast Starshield data speeds to operate drones, along with fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft — which are critical to its national defense.

Ukraine’s full access to Starshield-provided data was quickly restored Wednesday, prompting speculation on Capitol Hill that President Trump didn’t make the call to cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine but that the decision may have come from senior officials.

Four Republican senators — including two senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee — signed a bipartisan letter to Platte Moring, the Pentagon’s inspector general, demanding he investigate whether any Defense Department or other U.S. government officials “directed” or “authorized” changes to intelligence-sharing arrangements or Starlink and Starshield services affecting Ukraine.

Starshield is the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink, which provides internet connectivity from low-orbit satellites.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, signed the letter, along with fellow panel member Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), as well as Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.).

The GOP lawmakers expressed “grave concern ” over reports that Ukraine lost access to high-speed internet connectivity, which enables it to operate military vehicles flying faster than 63 mph or faster than 100 mph. The loss hampered its ability to fend off Russian strikes.

A Senate source familiar with internal discussions about how to respond to Ukraine’s sudden loss of access to critical military intelligence said senators in both parties have questions about whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or other senior Pentagon officials — such as Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of defense for policy — were involved in the decision.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has the full story .

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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

Musk settles election lottery lawsuits over $1 million voter giveaways

Tech mogul Elon Musk agreed to settle two lawsuits over his $1 million check handouts to battleground voters in the 2024 election, according to court filings published Thursday. The suits, filed in the Western District of Texas, accused the Tesla and SpaceX CEO of defrauding voters when his America PAC offered a $1 million giveaway to swing-state voters every day leading up to the 2024 general election. Musk first made the …

Unauthorized drones banned along US-Mexico border: FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it is restricting unauthorized drones along the ​U.S.-Mexico border. This move comes as the government ramps up efforts to address concerns about illegal drug shipments across the border, Reuters reported Friday. It is a temporary flight restriction that bars any unauthorized drone activity up to 400 feet above ground and extends 1 nautical mile north of the U.S.-Mexico …

Trump claims neither he nor Musk caused Ukraine Starlink outage

President Trump claimed on Friday that neither he nor SpaceX founder Elon Musk caused Ukraine’s Starlink outage earlier this week as the president clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries. “I didn’t do that. No, we didn’t do that at all. In fact, I don’t even think it was slowed down from what I understood. Because I just checked this morning,” Trump told reporters Friday …

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A conservative AI safety group is calling for the U.S. to implement tighter restrictions on advanced chip sales to China and limit the development of “vastly superhuman AI” as part of a new framework for AI policy. Humans First, chaired by former Tea Party leader Amy Kremer, laid out what it described as an “America First” policy framework. “AI will supercharge our nation’s economy, improve our quality of life, and ensure we …

News we’ve flagged from t he intersection of tech and other topics:

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Judge rejects push by CFTC to toss Biden-era settlement with Gemini

© Illustration / Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images, LightRocket via Getty Images

A federal judge Thursday rejected a request by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to throw out a Biden-era settlement with the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini .

The agency asked the court in May to vacate a consent order with the exchange, saying it found officials used “inappropriate tactics” to obtain the settlement.

It also argued it would not have brought the complaint under current enforcement policies.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein was unmoved, finding this was not “sufficient grounds for relief.”

“Gemini’s receipt of additional materials after the fact may have caused it to regret that it settled, but it did not create a post-judgement change in factual circumstances,” he wrote.

He also said the CFTC’s recent determination that “this action should not have been brought does not require vacatur or other relief.”

“The CFTC retains discretion over its enforcement priorities and remains free to account for its current policies in deciding whether to seek enforcement of the Consent Order,” Hellerstein added.

The agency initially sued Gemini — which was founded by billionaire investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss — in 2022. It accused the exchange of making false or misleading statements about a Bitcoin futures contract.

Shortly before trial, the two sides agreed to the consent order, finding the exchange violated the Commodities Exchange Act. Gemini also paid a $5 million penalty.

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Warsh offers no fresh signals on interest rates

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh declined Friday to predict central bank officials’ future course on interest rates, less than two weeks before they meet to discuss monetary policy. “I don’t prejudge meetings. I don’t believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year,” Warsh told Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Bangkok, Thailand. …

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