Elon Musk’s mom ‘furious’ at Biden after FCC denies Starlink subsidy

SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s mother on Wednesday said she is “furious” at President Biden after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied a $885.5 million subsidy for SpaceX satellite internet unit Starlink.

“I am the mother of @elonmusk His goal is to make this world a better place. @POTUS wants to stop him. Have you any idea how furious I am?” Maye Musk wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which Musk purchased last year.

“People in other countries are proud of Elon and do not understand the US President’s motive. Please tell me how I should answer them,” she added.

Maye Musk’s remarks were a repost of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s thread on X earlier this week in which he discussed the agency’s decision not to reinstate Starlink’s nearly $886 million award.

The internet unit received the award in 2020 after agreeing to provide high-speed internet service to more than 640,000 rural homes and businesses across 35 states. The FCC rescinded the award in August 2022, which Starlink challenged.

In its decision this week upholding that move, FCC said Starlink “failed to meet the burden” of the subsidy’s requirements and that the internet unit is not “reasonably capable” of providing high-speed internet to the areas it agreed to. 

In his dissenting statement posted to X, Carr said the FCC is adding “itself to the growing list of federal agencies engaging in the regulatory harassment of Elon Musk.” He argued the FCC’s decision “fits the Biden administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment.”

Elon Musk further railed against the decision, writing on X, “Doesn’t make sense. Starlink is the only company actually solving rural broadband at scale!”

“They should arguably dissolve the program and return funds to taxpayers, but definitely not send it those who aren’t getting the job done,” Musk added.

“What actually happened is that the companies that lobbied for this massive earmark (not us) thought they would win, but instead were outperformed by Starlink, so now they’re changing the rules to prevent SpaceX from competing.”

In a statement to The Hill, a spokesperson for the FCC noted the FCC is an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, not the president.

“The FCC is tasked with ensuring consumers everywhere have access to high-speed broadband that is reliable and affordable. The agency also has a responsibility to be a good steward of limited public funds meant to expand access to rural broadband, not fund applicants that fail to meet basic program requirements,”  FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Updated on Dec. 15 at 3:27 p.m.