President Joe Biden’s administration is exploring ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S. if a scheduled ban takes effect on Sunday, 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” to implement the law in a way that prevents the app from going dark.
If the administration moves forward with such a plan, it would mean that the app would not shut down on Biden’s last full day in office, pushing the issue to Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday.
At the same time, Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, told Fox News on Wednesday that the president-elect is ready to intervene to preserve access to the Chinese-owned video app in the U.S. market. Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, declined to commit to enforcing the ban during her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Together, these moves show both presidents working independently to bypass Congress and the Supreme Court, which is set to rule on the ban at any time.
Still, a White House official insisted that not enforcing the ban, if 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 and Trump have reversed their previous support for banning the app.
The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment on the plan.
TikTok is considering its options, including the possibility of going dark on Sunday. Alternatively, the company could allow the app to remain active without future updates and bug fixes.
The law requires ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based owner, to divest from the company and find an outside buyer within nine months, a deadline that expires on Sunday. The law also gives the president authority to grant a one-time 90-day extension if “significant progress” has been made toward divestment.
Lawmakers enacted the measure in the name of national security, fearing that Americans’ data could be compromised by China or that China could influence U.S. users by controlling TikTok’s content. TikTok, which has long argued that these concerns are baseless, and some of its users have sued to block the law on First Amendment grounds.
If TikTok doesn’t sell, a reprieve would leave national security concerns unresolved, at least for now.
However, as the potential ban nears, many American TikTok users have turned to other Chinese alternatives that present similar security risks.
Trump, who attempted and failed to ban the app during his first term, promised on the campaign trail last year to “save TikTok.” Biden signed the ban into law as part of a $95 billion measure to aid Ukraine and Israel in April. Now, his White House is working to dilute the law’s impact.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a longtime Biden ally, is among a small group of lawmakers who have urged the White House and the Supreme Court to block 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 find a solution that prevents the app from shutting down.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said he has expressed his concerns about the ban to White House officials and asked them to delay it. He added that the officials responded by saying they would “take it under consideration” but did not provide a clear answer on what would happen.
Late last month, Trump filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging it to postpone implementing that part of the law, allowing the incoming president to “pursue a negotiated resolution” to prevent a TikTok shutdown. Trump’s attorney, John Sauer, argued in the brief that the president-elect “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 posted on his Truth Social platform, asking: “Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?” He shared a graphic highlighting his broad reach on the app, which claims 170 million U.S. users.
Last week, Supreme Court justices did not seem convinced by TikTok’s free speech arguments, though they could still decide to temporarily block the law while ruling against the social media company.
During arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts questioned Congress’s findings 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?” Roberts asked.
Regarding free speech concerns, Roberts remarked that “Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok,” adding, “The law is not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying China has to stop controlling TikTok.”
While TikTok’s Asia headquarters are in Singapore, its parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing.
Some congressional Republicans who supported the TikTok law expect Trump to intervene 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 chaired 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 that if TikTok wants to continue operating in the U.S., there is only one path: divestiture.
“Congress has already passed the bill,” Kennedy 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.’”