Trump Tells DOJ Not to Enforce TikTok Law for 75 Days
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing DOJ not to enforce the TikTok divestment law for 75 days while the parties “determine the appropriate course forward.”
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The divestment deadline for the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act went into effect Sunday, while former President Joe Biden was in office. The Biden administration, which supported divestment, deferred to the incoming administration after repeated calls for an extension. Trump’s EO includes a 75-day delay directed at the attorney general, who has sole enforcement authority. The EO doesn’t cite the president’s authority under the statute to extend the Jan. 19 deadline by 90 days, which Biden could have exercised.
The “unfortunate timing” of the law “interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act’s prohibitions before they take effect,” Trump said in the EO. “This timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns."
DOJ declined comment Tuesday when asked whether Trump has the authority to direct the AG to delay enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in a unanimous decision Friday, citing national security concerns related to ByteDance’s access to American users’ private data (see 2501170051). Senate Republicans, including Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have repeatedly cited national security issues and the need to sever TikTok from its Chinese parent company (see 2501100058).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., in a statement Monday, said Trump is “circumventing national security legislation" that an "overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress” approved. ByteDance has had “270 days to sell TikTok to an American company, and it’s disgraceful they spent all that time playing political games rather than working to find a buyer.” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., on Monday introduced legislation that would repeal the TikTok divestment law.
Trump favored a TikTok ban during his first administration. The company issued a statement Sunday thanking Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers."