The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HOUSE PASSES BILL THAT COULD SEE TIKTOK BANNED IN US
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she wants to see the app forced to divest: "I do want to see us divest — force them to divest. We shouldn't have those ties with Communist China," she said.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., echoed that sentiment, saying, "It has to be addressed."
Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who serve as chair and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, applauded the House's passage of the TikTok bill in a joint statement on Wednesday, saying, "We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok." They added that they hope to see the measure passed in the Senate and signed by President Biden.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks during a news conference to discuss legislation that would temporarily halt U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 12, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., added he also wants to see TikTok required to be divested from China so that "national security and information [and] data on ordinary Americans can be protected."
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Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said that he sees TikTok as "a national security threat," adding that he wants "to make sure that we can sever that relationship" with China.
Despite the high level of concern over TikTok among members of both parties, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was vague about the bill's fate in the upper chamber on Wednesday, and did not offer any clues on whether it would be fast-tracked in the body.
"The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House," he said in a statement following the measure's passage.
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attends a Senate Judiciary Committee markup in the Hart Building in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cruz said there should be "a full and open amendment process" — a criticism of the Senate's recent proclivity for skipping procedure.
However, there are concerns over the extra time afforded to TikTok and tech lobbyists as consideration of the measure is dragged out.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized the flow of money from TikTok and other tech lobbyists in Congress while talking to Fox News Digital, claiming that "there ought to be a sign right there that says ‘property of Big Tech’" as he gestured toward the Senate chamber.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Colleen Shogan, nominee to be archivist of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, about her social media postings during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee full committee hearing on Shogan's nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Hawley said he hoped to see debate and a vote on the bill sometime soon.
On Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew told Fox News correspondent Aishah Hasnie that his team had reviewed the House bill and called it "not feasible."
"This bill, in all the details you can read, go through the details, this would lead to banning of the app in the country," he claimed.
Hawley posted on X, writing, "The answer is, the CCP won’t allow a sale. Which tells you how valuable TikTok is to them."
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While there appeared to be broad support for the House bill addressing TikTok, a smaller but somewhat bipartisan group of lawmakers came out against it. That group included Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who warned that it could violate various constitutional amendments and increase the size and scope of the federal government.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senators-signal-bipartisan-backing-tiktok-divestment-china