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Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said on Sunday that SpaceX chief Elon Musk's ability to cut off Starlink access to Ukraine is "beyond disturbing to me," arguing that an unelected private citizen should not be making life-and-death decisions on the battlefield.
Crow made the remarks on CBS's Face the Nation, where host Margaret Brennan asked whether it is truly the case that one man, an unelected official, can have such unilateral influence over national security policy. "Yeah, it appears to be the case, and it's beyond disturbing to me," Crow replied.
He said he had written directly to President Trump, along with Rep. Adam Smith of the Armed Services Committee and Rep. Jim Himes of the Intelligence Committee, saying lawmakers deserve answers. "It cannot and should not be the case that a tech oligarch, a private citizen, who has the most control over our national security, who is unaccountable, who is unelected, with zero transparency, is making life-and-death decisions on the battlefield, and systems that our service members and our partners and allies rely upon," Crow said. "It should not be the case."
Crow blamed the administration for allowing the situation to arise and vowed Democrats would try to stop it. "Under this administration, they are allowing it to happen. And we're going to try to stop it because Americans deserve accountability and they deserve leadership," he said.
The exchange follows a week of conflicting accounts over a slowdown in Starlink and Starshield service to Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk ordered the restriction on Starshield, the military version of Starlink. Musk said on Saturday that SpaceX simply enforced its terms of service after Kyiv used the commercial network for offensive drone strikes, writing that Ukraine's military "violated Starlink terms of service" and that the "loophole was closed." President Trump has denied ordering any restriction, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters the Pentagon had not pulled anything back. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv believed the instruction to limit speed came from the American government, with SpaceX carrying it out technically.
Ukraine said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield speeds had returned to normal, after terminals lost connection at speed and drones were lost during the restriction. Crow's remarks came the same Sunday that Sen. Adam Schiff, on NBC's Meet the Press, said Hegseth should be brought in to testify about the slowdown if Democrats retake the Senate.