House plows ahead with TikTok bill despite Trump’s opposition

The House of Representatives is considering a bill to ban TikTok, despite vocal opposition from former President Donald Trump, who previously led charges against the popular app.

The House will skip consideration of the bill this week, allowing a bipartisan foreign enemy bill to pass under special rules that require a two-thirds majority to pass, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana). The United States is scheduled to vote on a bill that would protect Americans from regulatory filings by the United States. ) The weekly schedule will be announced on Monday.

“We must ensure that the Chinese government cannot use TikTok as a weapon against American users and the government through data collection and propaganda,” Scalise said.

The plan highlights the bipartisan momentum to quickly pass the bill through the House, despite vocal opposition from party leader and likely presidential nominee Trump. ing.

The bill was introduced Thursday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, just two days after it was introduced by the top House members, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). It advanced with unprecedented unanimous support. Special Committee on the Communist Party of China.

The bill would force China-based TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban in the United States. The bill also establishes a process for banning other apps found to be controlled by adversaries of the United States.

Although the bill has broad bipartisan support, it faces opposition from both sides of the aisle that could pose hurdles for lawmakers, in addition to the fierce opposition launched by TikTok.

The most influential force on the right bashing the bill is Trump, who is well on his way to winning the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

President Trump has made a reversal since his failed attempt to ban TikTok as president, arguing on Monday that shutting down the app would benefit Facebook.

The former president was banned from Facebook in 2021 after spreading false claims about voter fraud ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Trump’s account was reinstated last year.

“There are a lot of good and bad things about TikTok. But what I don’t like is that Facebook can be big without TikTok. And I think Facebook, along with the media, is the enemy of the people.” President Trump said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday.

President Trump said he still believes the app poses a national security threat, but that that threat also exists for American tech companies.

“If you look at some of the American companies… they’re not very American,” Trump said. “They’re negotiating on both, and if China wants something from them, they’ll give it. So it’s a national security risk as well.”

The former president also criticized Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg in a post on Trump’s social media website Truth Social last week.

“If you eliminate TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” Trump said. “Facebook cheated in the last election and I don’t want them to do better. They are the true enemy of the people!”

Supporters of the bill said concerns that TikTok poses a national security threat are at the heart of their motivation to pass the bill. Also, the bill is not an outright ban, but rather gives TikTok’s parent company ByteDance a 165-day grace period to sell TikTok before it faces a ban on U.S. app stores and web hosting services. Stated.

TikTok denies accusations that it poses a national security threat. The company also strongly criticized the initiative, calling it a “total ban on TikTok,” and last week called on users to notify Congress against supporting the notification push campaign.

In response to President Trump’s comments, Gallagher said he agrees with the concerns raised by the former president but believes the proposed legislation will address those concerns.

“Mr. Trump was right about the national security problem TikTok posed in 2020. And today, he was right that simply pushing TikTok users onto Facebook is not the answer. That’s why our bill is right. It is a path and something to be surgically removed. [Chinese Communist Party] This creates an opportunity for us to take control and make TikTok even better,” Gallagher said in a statement.

In addition to President Trump’s opposition, the conservative group Freedom Works also criticized the bill as setting a “dangerous precedent.”

President Trump’s comments opposing legislation that could potentially ban TikTok came after he acknowledged that he recently met with Jeff Yass, a major Republican donor and investor in TikTok. President Trump said Yass did not bring up TikTok during the conversation.

Yass also donated to FreedomWorks, the nonprofit said. Lobbying Tracker OpenSecrets. But the conservative nonprofit Heritage Action supports the bill, calling it an “important vote” for House Republicans given their track record as a political group.

Other prominent Republicans have also voiced opposition to the bill ahead of the vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Friday that he did not intend to vote for the bill because it gives the president the power to designate applications controlled by other foreign adversaries. Ta.

“Next week, the House will vote to give Biden the power to decide which apps can run on our phones based on whether we consider them to be owned by a foreign enemy. I haven’t used it, but I wouldn’t vote to give the president new powers to ban TikTok or any other app,” Massey said. Said in X’s postthe platform formerly known as Twitter.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is “ambivalent” about a potential ban on TikTok.

“A ban on TikTok may be necessary to protect U.S. data from China, but it would be a good thing if we could find a way around it,” he said.

In 2020, Graham defended President Trump’s move to ban TikTok.

The House of Representatives is also likely to vote against the left-wing bill. Groups such as the ACLU and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University said the bill poses First Amendment risks by infringing on free speech rights.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) raised these concerns in a post about X on Friday.

“TikTok continues to serve as a network for organizing and growing small businesses and building communities. Congress should not ban it. Rather than targeting one company, Congress should We must pass a comprehensive data privacy bill.” Mr. Bush said.

President Biden has said he intends to sign the bill if it passes Congress.

It is not yet clear whether the bill will pass the Senate.

Last week, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), one of the most vocal lawmakers on the TikTok debate, said in a statement that he had “some concerns about the constitutionality of this approach, which singles out specific companies. However, I have great respect for that.” Congressman Gallagher and I will consider this bill carefully. ”

Last year, Warner introduced the bipartisan Restrictions Act, which would create a process that would allow banning TikTok and other apps, but did not name the companies in the bill.