Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is under intense pressure to hold a vote on TikTok’s future in the coming days after House members overwhelmingly voted to pass the bipartisan bill. However, this bill could lead to a complete ban on popular Chinese-owned video sharing. app, sources told the Post.
Schumer has not yet said whether the Senate will vote on the bill, which would force TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell within six months.
House lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to protect Americans from regulatory applications by foreign adversaries by a vote of 352-65.
Experts told the Post that the House’s conclusive, bipartisan tally easily cleared the two-thirds majority needed for passage, adding to the pressure on Schumer to pass the bill in the Senate. Ta.
However, it remains unclear whether the bill will gain the same level of support in the Senate as in the House.
“It’s hard for Mr. Schumer to ignore the kind of lopsided voting we saw in the House today,” said Matt Gorman, a political consultant and former senior adviser to Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign. “Given the supermajority vote in the House, it is difficult to see how it would be politically possible to withhold it, especially if Mr. Biden has already said he will sign it.”
Ahead of the vote, officials who have lobbied Congress to pass the bill told the Post that a clear victory in the House could force Schumer to pass the bill. For now, the majority leader’s position on the issue remains unresolved on Capitol Hill.
“No one really knows his views,” the source said. “I don’t think he’s decided yet.”
President Biden has already indicated he would sign the House bill if it passes, but Republican challenger Donald Trump has threatened to ban TikTok as it would give Facebook’s parent company Meta more power. He surprised China hawks in his own party by showing that he was opposed to this.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has called the bill a de facto ban on the app’s Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, if it becomes law. It is reported that preparations are already underway for a legal battle in this case.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the bill appears to have the support of President Biden’s Justice Department, with Deputy Lisa Monaco drafting language to avoid an expected legal battle by TikTok aimed at blocking the bill. The attorney general is said to have cooperated.
“It’s clear that behind the scenes, there is significant support from the Justice Department for some type of forced sale,” the Democratic source added.
Schumer relaxed Wednesday when asked about passing the bill in the House, saying, “Once the bill comes out of the House, we’ll consider it in the Senate,” without giving a deadline.
The day before, the New York Democratic Party said it would “consult with the chairs of the relevant committees and consider their views.”
Here’s what you need to know about a possible TikTok ban
- House lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would force ByteDance, which is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, to sell TikTok within six months or face a ban on the popular social media app in the United States.
- Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House China Select Committee, told TikTok, “If we don’t break with the Chinese Communist Party, we will lose access to U.S. users.”
- The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to sell TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans, or an app store could offer it or ByteDance could manage it. It is illegal to provide web hosting services to applications that do so.
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill to protect Americans from foreign enemy regulatory applications by a 50-0 vote during markup session.
- According to the bill, U.S. TikTok fans will be able to keep scrolling through their favorite social media app as long as Beijing-based ByteDance relinquishes ownership of the app.
- Former White House adviser Steve Bannon jumped on Donald Trump for his opposition to banning TikTok. It has been suggested that his former boss’s opposition may be motivated by billionaire donors with large stakes in the Chinese-owned app. President Trump has called Facebook an “enemy of the people” and argued that banning it would give it more power.
- What TikTok users and content creators need to know as US Congress moves closer to banning the app
Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Wednesday.
Even if Schumer brings the bill to a vote, it is currently unclear whether it will have enough support to pass the Senate, and lawmakers from both parties are weighing in on the potential impact on free speech. expressing concern.
Several Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Grahan, Rand Paul, Todd Young and Thom Tillis, said they were unsure about the House bill or opposed it outright. Says.
At the same time, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) issued a joint statement in support of the bill, calling it “a strong example of today’s bipartisan I was encouraged by the vote.” I look forward to working with you to get this bill through the Senate and signed into law. ”
“I tend to think that Schumer is going to sit on this for a while,” said a former Treasury official with experience with Mr. Hill, speaking on condition of anonymity.
With Biden and Trump on opposing sides in the debate, Schumer will likely weigh the bill’s political implications ahead of the 2024 election and the election of Democratic Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and John. It appears that they are considering the impact it will have on major Senate races. Tester in Montana.
Mr. Schumer also needs to make sure he has enough votes to pass the bill before bringing it to the floor and risking an embarrassing defeat.
“If this bill comes up for a vote in the Senate, it will have to pass, because it would be impossible to get a bill like this tough on China without enough senators,” the former lawmaker said. Ta. the Treasury official added.
