Pentagon must explain whether parts of Chinese spy balloon were made in the US, Republicans say

Republican senators say the Biden administration still has questions to answer about the Chinese spy balloon after officials shrugged off inquiries about whether some of its components were made in the U.S.

Senators Josh Hawley and Dan Sullivan made the claims after a classified briefing by officials from the Pentagon and State Department.

It comes as the administration remains under fire for what critics said was a dithering response to the spy craft. 

And on Friday officials revealed that a second unidentified object had been shot down, this time over Alaska.

Earlier, Sullivan told reporters he still had questioned about the first balloon. 

Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Josh Hawley of Missouri said Biden administration officials had not answered questions about whether American components were in the Chinese spy balloon

The Chinese spy balloon was allowed to drift across the U.S. before it was downed by U.S. jets

'American companies shouldn't be helping build spy satellites that are used against their own citizens,' Sullivan he said after the briefing. 

'Maybe there's nothing to be said about that but somebody asked about it, and nobody, nobody in that briefing said, "oh, it's not a problem."'

Biden intensified the controversy on Thursday by making light of the whole episode.

In an interview with Noticias Telemundo, he said he did not regret shooting it down sooner. 

'It's not a major breach,' Biden said. 'I mean, look, it's totally ... it's a violation of international law. It's our airspace. 

'And once it comes into our space, we can do what we want with it.'

The 200-foot-tall balloon, and its payload of electronic gadgetry, was shot out of the air by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. 

While American armed forces recover as much as they can of the wreckage, Republicans — and some Democrats — have kept up a barrage of questions.

Hawley said the briefing had not generated enough answers, and said he remained concerned about American components in the balloon. 

China maintains claims that the vessel was merely an astray weather balloon, but U.S. intelligence has linked the balloon to a surveillance program tied directly to China's principle military force – the People's Liberation Army (PLA)

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that was downed by the United States over the weekend over U.S. territorial waters off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

'I don't think there was any definitive answer on that,' he told Fox News Digital. 'But…the question was asked by a senator and, you know, I think that that's, that's a very, a very disturbing possibility.'

The questions come after it emerged this week that the balloon had gear capable of monitoring Americans' communications.

'It had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications,' the official said.

'It was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors.'