T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure are among those set to testify at a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on their combination, the full committee said Monday. It will focus on whether the deal would benefit consumers and meet requirements of U.S. antitrust law (see 1804300057, 1805110005, 1805230006 and 1805240025). Others to testify are: Intel Vice President-Technology, Systems Architecture & Client Group Asha Keddy, Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman, American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Roslyn Layton and Consumers Union Senior Policy Counsel George Slover. The hearing will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 226 Dirksen.

The House Science Oversight Subcommittee plans a Wednesday hearing on the threat international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catchers and similar technologies pose for mobile device cybersecurity and users' privacy. National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Laboratory Director Charles Romine, Virginia Tech Hume Center for National Security and Technology Director Charles Clancy and Princeton University assistant professor Jonathan Mayer are to testify. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in 2318 Rayburn, House Science said. Congress has scrutinized the use of cellsite simulators or IMSI catchers (see 1504290030 and 1506050038).

A Wednesday meeting of President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers and other administration officials ended without any commitment to kill language in the Senate-passed version of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) that would reinstate a recently lifted Department of Commerce ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and others. The Senate voted 85-10 Monday to pass HR-5515 with the ZTE provision intact, despite Trump's push to weaken the language or kill it completely (see 1806190051). Trump “wanted to make sure the negotiation that [Secretary of Commerce Wilbur] Ross had with the Chinese over the ZTE matter was understood and it was respected, and particularly given the fact the president is negotiating with China over things like North Korea,” Cornyn told reporters. “I think there’s a path forward to address the president’s concerns as well as national security.” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., a critic of the bid to reinstate the ban, said the meeting ended with participants making “serious strides in solving the ZTE issues.” Trump “should not have his hands tied as he engages in major negotiations dealing with trade and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Perdue said in a statement.

The White House said it's aiming to reshape Senate-proposed language for the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) that would retroactively restore a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE that the department announced last week it planned to suspend in exchange for alternate concessions from the Chinese manufacturer. “The massive penalties imposed on ZTE are part of an historic enforcement action taken by” Commerce, a White House spokeswoman reportedly told the press pool Wednesday. “This will ensure ZTE pays for its violations and gives our government complete oversight of their future activity without undue harm to American suppliers and their workers. The Administration will work with Congress to ensure the final NDAA conference report respects the separation of powers.” Commerce said last week it reached a deal for ZTE to pay $1.4 billion, institute major leadership changes and let U.S. inspectors monitor compliance (see 1806070040). Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and others successfully included their ZTE language in a manager's amendment for HR-5515 this week (see 1806120001). An earlier House-passed version of the bill also included amendments aimed at countering Trump on ZTE (see 1805240064). Senate votes on the NDAA amendments were Wednesday evening.

The House Judiciary Committee invited Google, Facebook and Twitter to a June 26 hearing, following up on a previous hearing on political bias (see 1804260055), said a congressional aide Tuesday. The platforms declined to appear at the previous hearing, drawing criticism from Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. Executives from the three companies were invited to the follow-up hearing, said the aide. The companies didn’t comment.

The Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Monday released long-awaited responses from Facebook after CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s April testimony (see 1804100054 and 1804110065). Facebook provided about 500 pages of written response to some 2,000 questions posed by lawmakers. “We did our best to review and answer them in the available timeframe,” said Facebook. “We respectfully request an opportunity to supplement or amend our responses if needed.” Commerce set a May 9 deadline, amid mounting concerns from lawmakers who said serious questions remain (see 1806080045). Facebook responded to questions on privacy practices, internal investigations, advertising, data storage, political bias, hate speech and other topics. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said he’s disappointed Facebook, per his request, didn't commit to not advertise in Messenger Kids, which is designed for children 12 and younger. “While Facebook has stated it will not ‘automatically’ share kids’ data with advertisers when users turn 13, the company stops short of declaring that it won’t share this data at all, automatically or otherwise,” said Markey.

Senate leaders agreed Monday to include language in a manager's amendment to the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) that would retroactively reimpose a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE that the department announced last week it planned to suspend in exchange for alternate concessions. Commerce said last week it reached a deal for ZTE to instead pay $1.4 billion, institute major leadership changes and let U.S. inspectors monitor compliance (see 1806070040). President Donald Trump's push to lift the ZTE ban got Capitol Hill criticism (see 1805140062). Attachment of the language from Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and others came just before Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross briefed GOP senators about the department's actions. Ross didn't attempt to dissuade senators from moving forward with the amendment and there's no indication Trump will veto HR-5515 if it moves out of Congress with the ZTE language intact, given the bill's overarching priorities, Cotton told reporters. “I and obviously every other senator believes the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for [ZTE's] behavior," Cotton said. “They’re a repeat bad actor that should be put out of business. For eight years, ZTE was able to run wild and be able to become the fourth-largest telecom company in the world.” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he intends to support the amendment, which “really is based out of concerns that China is using communications companies as a means to conduct espionage." Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said before the briefing he believes “there was enough support” for the amendment to move forward. But Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., later told reporters “we need more information from the intelligence community” before voting on the ZTE language. Floor consideration of HR-5515 was to continue Tuesday, after the Senate voted 91-4 Monday on a motion to proceed on debate on the legislation.

DOJ should let Congress negotiate an alternative musical copyright framework before moving to terminate the BMI and ASCAP consent decrees, wrote Senate and House Judiciary Committee leadership in a recent letter to Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim. The Friday letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., came a day after a similar request from Democratic senators (see 1806080034). Termination of the decrees could jeopardize music copyright progress made through House passage of the Music Modernization Act, which the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up soon (see 1805250036), said the lawmakers. Monday, DOJ didn’t comment.

DOJ should let Congress negotiate with stakeholders and develop an alternative solution before weakening or terminating the BMI and ASCAP consent decrees (see 1805150050), Democratic senators wrote Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Thursday. DOJ is examining the consent decrees, which govern licensing of public performance rights, under its legacy judgment initiative, drawing concerns from the music industry. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Minn.; Patrick Leahy, Vt.; Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; and Cory Booker, N.J., asked Delrahim to be mindful of the potential “disruptive and harmful effects” of altering the agreements without an alternative framework in place: “We respectfully request that the division take appropriate action to allow relevant parties to negotiate an alternative regime before taking unilateral action by terminating or weakening these judgments.” DOJ didn't comment.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., still wants Silicon Valley executives to testify before the committee so lawmakers can better understand data security practices. “Silicon Valley would be well served by the CEOs, other than when they’re in a crisis situation like Facebook is now, to come and share with us in Congress what their strategies are, what their agreements are, what their recommendations are,” Walden said Wednesday on Bloomberg TV, as noted by his office the next day. “It’s why I’ve invited them to do that before my committee. So far, we don’t have any takers voluntarily, but we’d benefit from their presence.” Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman previously said he would be willing to testify on behalf of Silicon Valley (see 1805160047).