President Joe Biden’s administration is considering ways to keep TikTok available in the United States if a ban that’s scheduled to go into effect Sunday proceeds, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
“Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday,” an administration official said, adding that officials are “exploring options” for how to implement the law so TikTok does not go dark Sunday.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Bruce Reed has been a point person on the issue and has received many calls from people urging the president not to let a ban go into effect, according to two people familiar with the matter.
If the administration moves forward with any such plan, it would mean the popular app’s going down would not define his last full day in office, and it would defer the issue to Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated Monday.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, told Fox News on Wednesday that Trump is ready to intervene to preserve access to the Chinese-owned video app in the American marketplace. And Pam Bondi, his pick for attorney general, refused to commit to enforcing the ban when she was asked about it at her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
The moves represent parallel efforts by the rival presidents to execute an end-run around Congress and the Supreme Court, which is teed up to rule on the ban at any time.
Still, a White House official insisted that not enforcing the ban, if it is upheld, is not an option.
“We are not considering deferring enforcement,” the official said. “Statutorily, we don’t believe we have the authority to do that.”
Biden’s and Trump’s positions are reversals from their onetime support for banning TikTok.
The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment on the plan.
TikTok is considering its options, including the last-ditch possibility that it goes dark Sunday, though it could also allow the app to remain active but without future updates and bug fixes.
The law in question required ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based owner, to divest from the company and find an outside buyer to take over within nine months. That window closes Sunday. The law also gave the president the authority to grant a one-time 90-day extension if “significant progress” has been made toward divestment.
The measure was enacted in the name of national security, as lawmakers believed U.S. users’ data was at risk of being compromised by China or that China could influence Americans by controlling content on TikTok. TikTok — which has long said those concerns are meritless — and some of its users sued to block the law, challenging it from a First Amendment standpoint.
Without a sale, a reprieve for TikTok would mean that the national security concerns would, at least for now, remain unresolved.
Just days ahead of the potential ban, throngs of U.S. TikTok users have downloaded Chinese alternatives that pose similar security issues.
Trump, who tried and failed to implement a ban during his first term, vowed on the campaign trail last year to “save TikTok.” Biden signed the ban into law as part of a $95 billion measure providing aid to Ukraine and Israel in April. But now his White House is looking to take the teeth out of it.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a longtime Biden ally, is among a small set of lawmakers who have appealed to the White House and the Supreme Court to stop the ban.
“I’m hopeful that President Biden will listen to the millions of voices who don’t want the lights to go out on this app,” Khanna said. “He has the power to extend the timeline to try to have a solution that prevents the app from shutting down.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also said he has relayed his concerns to White House officials and asked them to delay the ban.
He said they replied that they “would take it under consideration” but did not give a clear answer about what would happen.
Late last month, Trump filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to hold off on implementing that part of the law so the incoming president could “pursue a negotiated resolution” to prevent a TikTok shutdown. Trump’s attorney John Sauer argued in the brief that Trump “received a powerful electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans — including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok.”
Days later, Trump asked on his Truth Social platform: “Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?”
He attached a graphic showing his broad reach on the short-form video app, which claims 170 million U.S. users.
Last week, Supreme Court justices did not appear convinced by TikTok’s free speech arguments, though they could decide to temporarily block the law while still ruling against the company.
During arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts pointed to Congress’ finding that TikTok’s parent company is subject to Chinese laws requiring it to assist in intelligence-gathering.
“So are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” he asked.
In addressing the free speech concerns, Roberts said, “Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok.”
Lawmakers were “not saying TikTok has to stop,” he added. “They’re saying China has to stop controlling TikTok.”
While TikTok’s Asia headquarters are in Singapore, its parent company, ByteDance, is in Beijing.
Some congressional Republicans who voted for the law said they expect Trump to step in and negotiate a sale to U.S. interests once he takes office.
“They have to divest by law, so Trump could play an effective role by finding a buyer. ... He fancies himself as a top negotiator,” said Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a China hawk who was chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee when Congress passed the legislation last year. “Otherwise, I guess it shuts down unless he can find a way to divest it.
“A lot of these influencers rely on TikTok,” he continued. “They don’t want to switch over, but ByteDance is controlled out of Beijing. It’s just not a threat to Congress but to our children.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said there is only one path for TikTok if it wants to continue operating in the United States: divestiture.
“Congress has already passed the bill,” he said. “What I’m hoping for is the owners of TikTok come forward and say, ‘We will never share Americans’ data with the Communist Party of China, and here’s how that will be enforced: divesting from the parent company.’”
