Republican lawmakers are frustrated that President Donald Trump has paused new sanctions on Russia’s economy, all but ignoring a measure he signed into law just a month ago.

What’s less clear is what exactly they plan to do about it.

Trump paused the sanctions by executive order Friday, and the backlash grew as lawmakers questioned why Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service was disrupted.

Few Republicans have been as forceful, or as specific, as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who vowed Monday that Congress would punish the administration. He spoke to MS NOW after joining a bipartisan call between lawmakers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“There have not been sufficient answers forthcoming from the administration,” Fitzpatrick said Monday. “And you better well damn believe that we’re going to demand them. We’re going to demand accountability. And these are not just words; they’re not just hearings. We’re going to take budgetary action — punitive budgetary action — until we get to the truth, until this is fixed.”

Fitzpatrick said the administration wouldn’t get a pass on the satellite disruptions, either. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Saturday that the U.S. government had nothing to do with the problems affecting Starlink, SpaceX’s commercial service, and that Ukraine did not have access to Starshield, the company’s military-controlled counterpart. Democratic lawmakers have sought more information on whether the disruption originated with the U.S. government or with SpaceX.

“It’s not enough to say you had nothing to do with it,” Fitzpatrick said. “You need to tell us who did, right? So if he’s saying he had nothing to do with it, he’s the president. He can find out who did.”

Rubio also said that, to his knowledge, Starlink was working. But Zelenskyy told a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a video call Monday that the service remains degraded, according to a joint statement from Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Zelenskyy “also reported disruptions to U.S. intelligence sharing concerning early warning of Russian ballistic missile launches,” the senators said.

“This is wildly unacceptable, and it’s not going to stand,” Fitzpatrick said. “There’s going to be consequences to this. And by the way, it’s not just Starshield. It’s the diesel deal. It’s the lifting of sanctions. It’s all of this stuff.”

Making good on those threats will require help from other lawmakers. An opening for “punitive budgetary action” could come during the lame-duck session, when Congress faces a Dec. 11 government funding deadline and aims to pass the annual defense authorization bill. But no specific plan has taken shape.

Other Republicans have objected to both the sanctions pause and the Starlink disruptions, but few have threatened consequences.

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “there needs to be an investigation” by Congress into Starlink disruptions. But he stopped short of threatening to hold up the rest of Trump’s legislative agenda during the lame-duck session, saying there was no need for brinksmanship.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a member of Senate Republican leadership, told reporters Monday that she disagreed with the decision to waive the sanctions. Lawmakers had “waited for a while” to set the sanctions deadline at a time Trump preferred, she said, only for him to ignore the law.

“We had timed this to when the president and the White House felt it was a good time to move forward with this so the work could be effective,” Capito said. “That’s why I think I was extremely surprised when he did it.”

But Capito didn’t commit to any specific response. Asked about a possible investigation into the Starlink disruptions, she cited Rubio’s assertion that the problems had been resolved and said the relevant information would “all come out.”

Pressed on whether Congress should take further action on the sanctions, she pointed to the upcoming election.

“It’s going to be difficult to say anything in the next two weeks that’s going to make any kind of difference,” she said.

Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Texas, also disagreed with the waiver but said he would defer to the president.

“I personally am not for that, but, you know, he’s in discussions at a much higher level than I am,” Goldman told reporters. “But no, I certainly would be in favor of keeping those sanctions on Russia until the war is over.”

Asked whether any committees should investigate the Starlink disruption, Goldman said, “Oh, I’m not going to tell any chairman how to run the committee.”

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., criticized Trump’s decision at a discussion hosted by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute on Monday, but she didn’t call for Congress to act.

“I want to see us use the economic firepower that we have,” Britt said. “I want to see that peace through strength. I believe that Russia is at the weakest point that they have been in this war. I believe we are at that moment where, if we are able to utilize those tools, we can drive Putin to the table, driving him to the table, ending this war.”

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led a delegation of lawmakers to meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine last week. In a statement Sunday, he said Zelenskyy would be willing to halt strikes on Russian petroleum infrastructure in exchange for U.S. targeting assistance to counter Russian missiles.

Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., pointed out that her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, negotiated the sanctions bill before his death in July. She said she wanted the sanctions to stay in place and planned to talk to Trump when he visits South Carolina on the campaign trail.

“The president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, get gas and diesel prices down, and the sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that,” Graham told reporters on Saturday. “It’s up to him whether or not he chooses to use it.”

The post ‘Wildly unacceptable’: Trump’s moves on Russia are testing GOP patience appeared first on MS NOW.

The Orlando office of Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., was evacuated Friday after receiving a “suspicious package” that matched those received by offices of other lawmakers and state officials.

The packages, according to law enforcement, were mailed to multiple congressional and election offices nationwide. Some contained an unknown substance, authorities said.

Frost said in a statement Friday that he and his district office staff are safe, adding the office was evacuated as a precaution.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI and U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the series of suspicious mailings, which were sent to the offices of multiple Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, as well as some Republican state officials.

Several secretaries of state and other elections offices across the country were also targets of the letters, according to Brendan Donahue, deputy chief inspector for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“Some of the letters have contained an unknown substance, and we’re working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident,” Donahue said, adding that authorities are working to identify the source of the letters.

Also Friday, Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York said his district office had also received an envelope containing a suspicious substance.

“We are living in a time when threats against elected officials and their staff have become the new normal. Although my team is understandably shaken by the incident, we will not be deterred from serving the people of NY-15 in the Bronx,” Torres said in a statement.

A test of the substance conducted by the New York Fire Department determined it was “non-hazardous,” and Torres did not report that he or anyone else had been harmed by the envelope.

Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen, a Republican, said Thursday that his office “received a suspicious envelope matching the description of suspicious mailings sent to other state election offices across the country this week.” The envelope was not opened, according to a statement from Evnen’s office.

Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Wednesday that his office is working with state and federal law enforcement after confirming it was the intended recipient of “a suspicious mailing that contained a powdery white substance.”

“Fortunately, delivery of the letter was preempted by investigators at the U.S. Postal Service, who are dealing with similar mailings sent to election officials in multiple states,” LaRose said in a statement, adding that “election officials should never have to fear for their personal safety while performing their duties.”

Messages sent to members of the Senate and House on Thursday morning informed lawmakers and their staff of the investigation.

The Office of the Sergeant at Arms of the House described the suspicious substance as a “white powder.”

No House offices have received the letters, according to the notice, and it was not immediately clear Thursday whether any of the mailings had reached Senate offices, nor to which offices they had been addressed.

“Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered, however, it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations,” the Senate message said.

The office of Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was among those that were sent a letter with a suspicious substance, according to spokesperson Josh Sorbe, but the letter was intercepted.

A letter was also sent to the office of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., spokesman Danny Rodriguez said. Padilla’s office was notified by the FBI about the letter, which was intercepted by USPS, according to Rodriguez.

Another letter had a return address that read “DSA,” from a suite in a New York City office building in the financial district of Manhattan, according to the notice sent to Senate offices.

The Democratic Socialists of America previously occupied the address, but have not been in the suite since 2013, and moved out of the building in January, a DSA spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the DSA was not involved.

In a statement to MS NOW, an FBI spokesperson confirmed the agency’s joint investigation with USPS, but did not confirm further details.

The suspicious letters come three weeks before Election Day. Both chambers are formally adjourned as members campaign for re-election in their districts.

CORRECTION (Oct. 15, 2026, 4:30 p.m. ET):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sen. Chris Murphy’s office received one of the letters mailed to congressional and election offices. A spokesperson for the senator’s office says one of the letters was addressed to him but was intercepted in the mail. The earlier story also incorrectly stated that another letter was sent to “DSA” at a Manhattan address. That was the return address.

The post Law enforcement investigating suspicious letters sent to Congress, elections offices appeared first on MS NOW.