Republican Senators Seek DOJ Enforcement of TikTok Law
DOJ should enforce the law and block TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance isn’t willing to divest from the Chinese social media app, several Republican senators told us in interviews Thursday, citing data-related national security concerns.
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Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) in 2024. Then-President Joe Biden signed the law setting a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
Following his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing DOJ not to enforce the divestment law for 75 days while the parties “determine the appropriate course forward.” He announced a second extension in April (see 2504040058), which expires June 19. Trump told NBC News in May he would extend the deadline a third time if a deal isn’t made. PAFACA allows the president to invoke a one-time, 90-day extension.
The White House didn’t comment Friday. TikTok didn’t comment.
“My advice is: enforce it,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “The president hasn’t asked my opinion on this, but my view is that I think these extensions are ruining our negotiating leverage. I think it’s probably hurting the effort to find a buyer. I think TikTok as it’s currently constituted is a national security threat.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said she expects Trump to extend the deadline. “I voted for the TikTok ban, so I’m anxious to see that get resolved,” she said. Negotiations are ongoing, but “we’ll see. Sooner would be better.”
“I think the law should be enforced,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said. “Yes. Ready for it to be enforced.”
Congress passed the law in an effort to resolve national security concerns related to TikTok’s alleged data-sharing with the Chinese government. Congress in 2022 passed Hawley’s No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which banned the app on federal government devices. Many states have passed similar laws.
“They’re going to have to have either a sale or they’re going to end up not being able to do business here in the United States,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. “It’s one or the other. It is a law. We expect that the law will be executed. I know that there’s some allowance made, but at some point it’s got to get executed.”
“We’re waiting for final enforcement on this,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. “Obviously, the president is trying to be able to work with his team, in order to get the transfer to happen. [Congress wasn’t] trying to take the entire app down. We were trying to make sure that the Chinese Communist Party did not run it. The president seems to be focused on that, as well, and we’ll let him finish up the negotiations, but it needs to happen.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Congress has more pressing issues: “I could go either way. Whatever. I think we have so many more important things to worry about.”
Several Democrats told us they want enforcement.
“Where the hell is it?” Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said. “Where the hell is the TikTok ban? Let’s protect U.S. interests.”
“The law is clear,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va. “I just wonder: Does the president, the administration not believe that the Chinese can be collecting data and, frankly, have an unprecedented propaganda machine?”
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, said if Trump “thinks there’s a problem with the law, he should come back to Congress and ask us to amend it, not just ignore it.”
“At some point it will be enforced, and there will be a sale,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I have no doubt about it.”