House Judiciary Committee Republicans accused Democrats of trying to censor testimony Thursday in a way that mirrors how they allege the federal government colluded with social media companies to censor legitimate news stories.

The U.S. shouldn’t look to the citizens broadband radio service band as a model for future sharing if only because it’s based on old technology and doesn’t reflect advances in sharing technology, said Peter Rysavy of Rysavy Research at an American Enterprise Institute 5G forum Thursday. Other experts said the U.S. will be hobbled on spectrum until Congress reauthorizes FCC spectrum auction authority.

The FCC and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are partnering on a trial of georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the commission said Thursday as commissioners approved 988 outage reporting requirements 4-0, as expected (see 2307130010). Commissioners also unanimously approved an order allowing 14 FM6 stations to broadcast analog signals as an ancillary service and an order giving tribal libraries and other E-rate participants greater access to funding.

Capitol Hill may be on course to tackle a trifecta of major FCC and communications policy matters during the final week before Congress begins the month-plus August recess, including Senate floor votes on Democratic commission nominee Anna Gomez, but lawmakers cautioned Thursday afternoon that action on those issues remained uncertain. Senate Democrats were urging Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to file cloture on Gomez in hopes of setting up floor votes next week on the nominee, whose confirmation would bring the FCC to a 3-2 Democratic majority more than two years into President Joe Biden’s term.

Here are last week’s most-read stories on court proceedings affecting telecom, tech and media that were covered in-depth by our sibling publication Communications Litigation Today. Current subscribers can click the reference number hyperlink or search the story title. Nonsubscribers can gain access by signing up for a complimentary preview.

The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would ban law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying consumer data from brokers without a warrant (see 2307180064). Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., voted “present,” making him the only member not to support the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (HR-4639). He defended the FBI during Friday’s hearing on reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Industry and consumer advocates clashed Wednesday after the FTC and DOJ issued draft merger guidelines detailing what transactions violate antitrust law (see 2206210071).

The March expiration of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority threatens U.S. competitiveness with China, Clete Johnson, Center for Strategic and International Studies senior fellow-strategic technologies, warned during a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Johnson is the author of a new CSIS paper arguing for reallocating more federal airwaves for commercial use.

The House was set to begin considering the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act FAA reauthorization bill (HR-3935) Wednesday night without four proposed satellite and spectrum amendments that the Rules Committee decided not to allow floor votes on attaching to the measure. One from Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, was specifically aimed at preventing repeats of the public conflict in 2022 between wireless carriers rolling out commercial operations on the C band and the aviation industry over potential altimeter interference (see 2201180065). Carriers agreed earlier this year to extend protection for flight operations from some C-band deployments until Jan. 1 (see 2304030070).

AUSTIN -- New NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram praised NTIA efforts making broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) allocations, in a Wednesday interview. Also, Schram and another Republican committee member, South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson, told us they’re glad the FCC may soon finally have all five seats filled.