Senators have warned the White House they will withhold confirmation votes until the administration ensures the restoration of communications capabilities used by Ukraine’s military.
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania and a former F.B.I. agent who worked on Russian counterintelligence in Kyiv, said he doubted the communication problems were accidental.
James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, spent more than $22 million from his campaign account in the first two weeks of October, the most of any candidate in a competitive race.
The call from the president about the Starshield network came after officials in Ukraine reported that they found new limits on the use of military drones in their war against Russia.
Ukraine says it still doesn’t know why the military satellite internet service, a sister to Starlink, was abruptly throttled, leaving troops vulnerable to Russian attacks.
A Ukrainian soldier flying a drone in the Donetsk region last week. Members of the military have reported issues with drone connectivity since Starshield was disrupted.