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Efforts to restrict TikTok won a new ally on Capitol Hill in the Senate Commerce Committee’s chairwoman, who complained about House legislation to restrict the popular app just last week.
Sen. Maria Cantwell’s new view diminishes a major roadblock in the way of the House’s effort to force the app’s China-based owner, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
The Washington Democrat’s shift on restricting TikTok follows other steps she has taken to change course on issues involving privacy and donations from Boeing.
House Speaker Mike Johnson included forcing the sale of TikTok in a foreign aid package this week. The 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act has divesting TikTok in the bill’s provisions aimed at China, according to a fact sheet published by his office Thursday.
Ms. Cantwell shared her support for Mr. Johnson’s legislation late Wednesday.
“I’m very happy that Speaker Johnson and House leaders incorporated my recommendation to extend the ByteDance divestment period from six months to a year,” Ms. Cantwell wrote on X. “As I’ve said, extending the divestment period is necessary to ensure there is enough time for a new buyer to get a deal done. I support this updated legislation.”
The House overwhelmingly passed the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act aimed at TikTok last month, but Senate Democratic leadership has largely ignored the bill while pursuing foreign aid legislation.
Last week, Ms. Cantwell told reporters the House’s legislation was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny, adding she was concerned about Congress and not the executive branch identifying security threats, according to Punchbowl News.
Ms. Cantwell’s shift to supporting TikTok crackdown legislation this week follows a similar evolution she made on federal privacy legislation.
After helping kill a bipartisan privacy bill authored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2022, Ms. Cantwell joined the Washington Republican in introducing a new privacy bill last week.
Two years ago, Ms. Rodgers toiled to produce privacy legislation co-authored with Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, that earned the support of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Republicans. Ms. Cantwell and the Democratic leadership then stopped it from receiving a review in the Senate.
The motivation for Ms. Cantwell’s new openness to the House legislation is unclear. She’s running for reelection in November, and other changes she has made are tied to her campaign.
Amid the Senate’s scrutiny of Boeing’s safety practices, Ms. Cantwell is refusing to collect donations to her campaign from the aircraft giant’s leadership, her reelection campaign told Politico in a statement published Sunday.
Eschewing cash from Boeing is a major decision for Ms. Cantwell. When she last faced voters in the 2018 election cycle, no other congressional candidate collected more money from the company’s workforce than Ms. Cantwell, according to the OpenSecrets’ database of campaign contributions.
TikTok didn’t respond to a request for comment on Ms. Cantwell’s support for forcing the divestiture of the app.
TikTok said Wednesday on X that the House’s decision to include legislation aimed at restricting the app in the foreign aid package was “unfortunate.”
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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