Less than two years ago, TikTok was a crisis situation on Capitol Hill. The chair of the House Select Committee on China called it “digital fentanyl” that brainwashes young Americans into supporting Hamas. A former national security adviser said letting TikTok remain in the US under its Chinese owner “would be akin to allowing Soviet control of several major American newspapers and TV channels during the Cold War.” Lawmakers left classified national security briefings about TikTok sharing grave concerns. All of it culminated in the surprise frenzy of a bipartisan bill forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban, which swiftly became law.
But nearly a year after the app should have been kicked out of the US, TikTok remains widely available, thanks to intervention from the administration of President Donald Trump. A promised acquisition by US investors, brokered through Trump, has been stalled for months. And the lawmakers who passed the ban are largely staying quiet.
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The Verge reached out to nearly a dozen current and former lawmakers who voted for the bill and sat in key positions that ushered it into law, including the then-Chair of the House Select Committee on China Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). One provided comment for this story, and several did not respond to repeated requests. It’s unclear how most feel about the impact of their push to force a sale or ban of TikTok, or what they think of the deal Trump promises will finally bring TikTok — and the American tech providers it relies on — into compliance with the law.
There are extenuating circumstances, primarily the 43-day government shutdown that spun Congress into chaos this fall. In a statement to The Verge, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) noted that there’s still a lot of unknowns about Trump’s deal. “Congress is still waiting to get briefed on how the TikTok sale would actually stop Chinese algorithms from causing harm to U.S. citizens, U.S. military, and U.S. interests,” she said. “The lack of transparency has caused concerns for both Democrats and Republicans who are still waiting for secure briefings on how to stop malign actions.”
Congress has spent the year putting up relatively little fuss as Trump repeatedly extended TikTok’s sales timeline
Still, the fact remains that after months of panic over the alleged dangers of TikTok, Congress has spent the year putting up relatively little fuss as Trump repeatedly extended TikTok’s sales timeline in clear violation of the divest-or-ban law. (Former President Joe Biden also tried to avoid enforcing the law he signed; the deadline hit on his last day in office, but he punted it to Trump.) Ignoring an order to ban a popular app may pose less clear harm than slashing the federal workforce, undermining birthright citizenship, and generally exceeding the bounds of presidential power. But the TikTok saga represents one of the most clear-cut examples of how comfortable Trump is ignoring the law — in this case, one passed by more than 400 federal lawmakers and unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court. It also demonstrates how uncomfortable lawmakers seem with standing up to him.
The Verge contacted representatives for Cantwell, Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi, House China Select Committee Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI), Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) , former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ),Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). Of those, the sole comment came from Cantwell.
“The whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn’t move from out of Beijing’s hands”
During past extensions of the ban deadline, some lawmakers, including Republicans, have issued muted statements about the importance of enforcing it, often without going so far as to criticize the Trump administration’s brazen defiance of their legislation. Around the president’s second supra-legal extension in April, several Republicans struck a stern tone about the need for a deal that would comply with the law, but did not directly call out Trump’s extension. Hawley told reporters that he “would advise the President against” a deal that doesn’t comply with the law, and if that’s not possible through a sale, he “ought to enforce the statute and ban TikTok. This middle way, I don’t think is viable.” Warner, a Democrat, told The Verge after Trump’s second extension, “the whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn’t move from out of Beijing’s hands.”
After Trump issued his executive order in September outlining the broad strokes of how he intends to save TikTok, Moolenaar, the current China Committee Chair, pledged to conduct “full oversight” over the Trump-brokered agreement, “starting with an urgent briefing I have requested from the Administration.” Moolenaar also said he intends to invite the leaders of the new TikTok entity to testify before his committee next year.
In recent weeks the Trump administration has claimed TikTok is finally on the cusp of a sale. Here’s what we know about the deal so far, from the executive order and reporting from various outlets:
- TikTok’s US operations will be spun out into an entity valued at $14 billion, despite analysts previously estimating it could be worth closer to $50 billion.
- Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX will control about 45 percent of the US entity, according to CNBC, with ByteDance owning 19.9 percent and 35 percent controlled by ByteDance investors and new holders.
- TikTok will be “majority-owned and controlled” by US-based companies.
- The US-based operations will get a new board of directors.
- Users may or may not be required to download a new app controlled by US interests.
- The US-based venture will operate the recommendation algorithm, code, and content moderation behind TikTok, basing its algorithm on one licensed from ByteDance.
It’s still not clear whether China will allow ByteDance to sell TikTok. Trump has said President Xi Jinping has generally given the okay, but after the two leaders’ meeting in late October, there was little indication of progress.
Even if China accepts the deal, it’s not clear the agreement meets the legal requirements for divestiture. Licensing the TikTok algorithm could potentially constitute an ongoing operational relationship between the US entity and ByteDance, which is explicitly barred by the law.
After Trump’s deal announcement, Moolenaar said he had concerns about licensing the algorithm. “I think anytime you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that’s a problem,” Moolenaar said, according to Reuters. “I just believe you have to have a new algorithm, and I don’t know that you can reprogram.” But, he said, he was awaiting more details from the White House.
Moolenaar and hundreds of his colleagues moved about as fast as Congress ever does to pass the TikTok bill last year. Those lawmakers proclaimed how important it was to remove TikTok’s Chinese ownership. But the result, at this point, looks like a sweetheart deal to sell TikTok to one of the president’s closest allies, possibly without even severing all the app’s ties to China. In the process, Trump has demonstrated a willingness to ignore Congress’ will, and Congress, in turn, has demonstrated its unwillingness to put up a fight.
