‘Musk-link’ $nub called payback

Republican critics raged after the Federal Communications Commission rejected nearly $900 million in subsidies for Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet service — a move they decried as a vindictive play by the administration.

Musk’s SpaceX had appealed an earlier move by the FCC in 2022 to deny the firm access to some $886 million in subsidies as part of a federal program to boost rural Internet service.

The five-member FCC, led by Democrat-appointed Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, affirmed that decision Tuesday, finding that Starlink had “failed to demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service.”

Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr dissented, asserting that “President Biden gave federal agencies a green light to go after” Musk after the billionaire bought Twitter for $44 billion last year.

In August, the Justice Department sued SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against refugees and asylees in its hiring practices. SpaceX fired back, arguing the feds’ case is unconstitutional.

Carr said the FCC’s rejection of subsidies “certainly fits the Biden administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment.”

Another GOP Commissioner, Nathan Simington, concurred, arguing that his FCC colleagues had improperly held SpaceX to 2025 performance benchmarks three years early.

This week, the agency pointed in part to concerns about the recent failure of SpaceX’s Starship, which exploded after launch.

Musk himself blasted the FCC’s decision, writing on X that Starlink “is the only company actually solving rural broadband at scale!”