Bipartisan senators urge Biden to delay TikTok sell-or-ban deadline by 90 days

A pair of bipartisan senators on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to delay a potential ban on the social media app TikTok ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the matter next month.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the social media company's plea about a potential ban on the app. The president in April signed a bill that included a ban on the app if its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance did not divest its shares by Jan. 19. The Court is expected to begin hearing oral arguments on Jan. 10, nine days before the deadline.

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul sent a letter that urged the president to extend the app's divestment deadline by 90 days, citing the quick turnaround that would be needed at the Supreme Court and a new presidential administration. 

“The stakes here are high: As a practical matter, even if the Court rules that the law is constitutional by the January deadline, ByteDance cannot divest TikTok in that limited time,” the senators wrote. “Consequently, absent a judicial injunction, decision overturning the law, or action by you, TikTok will soon be banned in the United States, causing its creators and users serious hardship."

Markey and Paul have both publicly opposed the law before, which was part of a larger foreign aid bill, although Markey did vote for the overall bill. 

The ban stems from concerns that the app could operate as an extension of the Chinese government. But the company has strongly denied being "owned or controlled by any government or state-controlled entity."

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, has promised to "save" the app on the campaign trail, and promised on Monday to "take a look” at the ban when he becomes president, according to The Hill.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.