January 13, 2025
“The stake high over the next week that’s why I will soon introduce the extend the TikTok deadline act to extend the deadline by which byte dance must sell TikTok an additional 270 days.”
That was Senator Ed Markey a Democrat from Massachusetts on the Senate floor just a short time ago talking about a new bill he is introducing. He is saying that – as I told you in this video earlier today – the senate never actually considered the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – the bill that created the TikTok ban as a stand alone bill. As I said in that video senators didn’t want to touch that stand alone bill when the house passed it with a 10 foot pole. And because it wasn’t getting traction — Speaker Johnson decided to instead bundle it with must pass foreign aid and sanctions bills. Senator Markey said that was not cool.
We need time to have a deeper conversation how to address the national security risk we need time the ban’s implication we need time to consider alternative ideas. This legislation does not repeal it just allows for more time.
Before you get excited – let’s talk about the reality of Senator Markey’s emergency bill.
As you know the Republicans are the majority in the Senate. While Senator Markey can introduce this emergency save TikTok bill, it will be up to the Senate Majority Leader – John Thune – a Republican to decide whether Senator Markey – a Democrat’s – bill will be brough up for a vote. That’s a hurdle.
The other thing you have to understand is timing. The senate doesn’t usually move very fast. Bills – if the senate majority leader decides to put them on the floor – usually take around a week to even get to the stage where they can be voted on. TikTok doesn’t have a week. It has six days. Plus it would still need to pass the House and President Biden would still need to sign it.
Senator Markey spent time on the floor explaining the US economy will take a real hit if TikTok goes away not to mention all the personal stories he relayed from TikTok users who said their livelihoods would be ripped from them. Senator Markey said if those personal stories aren’t enough maybe this is.
I will keep you posted on whether or not the senate majority leader will move on senator Markey’s bill.
Read more from Senator Markey here.
