Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday outlined a busy agenda for lawmakers back in Washington, saying “movement on the TikTok bill” is possible.
The Senate will reconvene next week after a two-week recess. The House of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13 to give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to sell the short video app’s U.S. assets or face a ban. .
Schumer’s statement did not provide a specific position on TikTok, but said “there is an opportunity to move forward on bipartisan legislation in the coming weeks and months” that includes measures related to TikTok.
Congressional aides say no immediate action against TikTok is planned as senators continue to debate next steps.
Schumer said there are other bipartisan projects that could make progress, including online safety for children, long-stalled rail safety legislation, low-income internet subsidies, cannabis banking and efforts to “beat the Chinese government.” mentioned the bill.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell said last month that she was considering holding a hearing on a bill to crack down on TikTok, saying senators wanted legislation that would address concerns about the app.
“The key here is to have tools that can be used to stop foreign actors from doing harmful things that could harm American citizens,” Cantwell said. “We’re going to get it done and we’re not going to take forever.”
The fate of TikTok, which is used by about 170 million Americans, has become a hot topic in Washington, where lawmakers have been flooded with calls from users opposed to the bill.
TikTok said Friday that “banning TikTok would violate the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans.”
Many lawmakers and the Biden administration have argued that TikTok poses a national security risk because China could force TikTok to share U.S. user data; It claims it has never shared any data and has no intention of ever sharing it.
TikTok said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on efforts to protect and store U.S. data.
