Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to White House officials Monday expressing serious concerns about the recent installation of Starlink internet service in the executive branch complex.
The letter, which was signed by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio and shared exclusively with FedScoop, comes amid reports that Starlink — provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX — is now integrated into the White House property’s IT systems. The members of Congress are also flagging the use of the internet service at the General Services Administration.
A physical Starlink terminal connects to the low-Earth orbit satellite constellation that provides the internet service. But the White House has gone further than simply purchasing that equipment — the service has now been connected and routed into an administration data center, the New York Times reported last month. White House officials told the outlet that installing Starlink was meant to improve internet capabilities at the complex and that the service was a donation.
House Oversight Democrats are now requesting a range of documents from the White House, including communications about the legality of using the service, terms of the donation, and more details about internet service issues at the White House. They’re also asking for more information about the use of Starlink by the GSA.
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“Donations such as this raise considerable red flags as to whether Mr. Musk is using his
position in the federal government to benefit his companies,” wrote Connolly, House Oversight’s ranking member, and Brown, ranking member of Oversight’s Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation subcommittee. “His dual position as the recipient of federal contracts and a White House advisor creates a troubling and obvious conflict of interest, raising the risk of undue influence and potential misuse of federal contracts for personal or corporate gain.”
Connolly and Brown added: “We are also concerned that the recent installation of Starlink at the White House brings potential cybersecurity and national security risks. Even unclassified information shared over White House Wi-Fi is extremely important to national security, and any lax controls on the new Starlink Wi-Fi system could introduce security exposures and blind spots in the monitoring of networks for anomalous activity.”
SpaceX has won billions in federal contracts, but much of that work is focused on satellite and spacecraft launch services provided to NASA and the Defense Department. Still, use of the company’s SpaceX internet service appears to be growing. Earlier this year, FedScoop reported that Starlink was under consideration for a new use case at the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection.
The Federal Aviation Administration may also soon transition to Starlink services. A recent Freedom of Information Act request found that SpaceX has no current agreement with the agency, but a spokesperson recently told FedScoop that the “Starlink tests are being done through the FAA’s Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) program, which is managed through a contract with L3 Harris.”
Written by Rebecca Heilweil
Rebecca Heilweil is an investigative reporter for FedScoop. She writes about the intersection of government, tech policy, and emerging technologies. Previously she was a reporter at Vox’s tech site, Recode. She’s also written for Slate, Wired, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. You can reach her at rebecca.heilweil@fedscoop.com. Message her if you’d like to chat on Signal.
