TikTok creators gather before a press conference to express their opposition to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Apps Act, pending legislation to crack down on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, March 12, 2024.
Craig Hudson | Reuters
The Senate should quickly advance a bill that would force Chinese tech company ByteDance to sell TikTok, White House national security adviser John Kirby said Sunday. The bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“We are pleased that the House approved this matter,” Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We urge the Senate to act quickly on this matter.”
“We want to see a divestment of this Chinese company because we're concerned, as every American should be, about data security and what ByteDance could do and what the Chinese Communist Party could do with the information they can extract from Americans' use of Dial.”
The White House call to action comes as the Senate slows down the bill, which would require ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company or face a ban in the US.
The bill was approved by a vote of 352 to 65 in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. President Joe Biden, who is currently on TikTok in his re-election campaign, said he would sign the bill if Congress passes it.
Buoyed by the momentum of the House vote, motivated House members want the bill to move forward more quickly.
“Mike [Gallagher] “I've had conversations, very positive, with various senators who are very interested in this bill and who were very surprised by the size or the overwhelming margin of bipartisan support in the House,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamurthy. , an Illinois Democrat who co-chairs the House Special Committee on China Relations with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Gallagher, appeared on CBS' “Face the Nation.”
However, the Senate has a busy week ahead of it as Capitol Hill seeks to negotiate a budget resolution for the six remaining appropriations bills that are set to expire on Friday, which could lead to a partial government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made clear he's in no rush on the TikTok bill. He said he would “review” the text without committing to a timetable for a vote. Schumer previously expressed support for selling TikTok to a US company.
In addition, some lawmakers in the Senate stalled on the bill rather than accepting it in full.
For example, Senators such as Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Ben Cardin, R-Md., initially offered support for the measure, but were reluctant to commit to a yes vote.
“I'm certainly sympathetic to it,” Cardin said in an interview Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “.
The TikTok bill has also sparked controversy outside Capitol Hill. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed opposition to a potential TikTok ban, a reversal of his position years ago when he called for a ban as president.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook an enemy of the people,” Trump said Monday on CNBC's “Squawk Box.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence confirmed on Sunday that Trump's opposition to the TikTok bill is the main reason behind his decision not to endorse his former boss for president in the upcoming election.
“The president's reversal just last week on TikTok, in the wake of an administration in which we literally changed the national consensus on China, is why, after a lot of thought, I have just concluded that I cannot stand for the agenda that Donald Trump is implementing,” Pence said on the show. “Face the Nation” on CBS' “This National Debate.”
