Congressional push to take TikTok off your phone may 'be lost in the fog of presidential politics,' Pence says

By Victor Reklaitis

Former VP and Sen. Mitch McConnell back House bill targeting TikTok, but measure continues to face slow process in Senate

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Vice President Mike Pence are throwing their support behind a House-passed bill that could lead to a nationwide ban for TikTok, but the measure still looks likely to face a slow process in the Senate.

The House's bipartisan bill, approved in a 352-65 vote in mid-March, seeks to ban TikTok nationwide if the video-sharing app continues to be controlled by its Chinese parent company.

"I'll support commonsense, bipartisan steps to take one of Beijing's favorite tools of coercion and espionage off the table," McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who plans to step down from his leadership position in November, said in a floor speech Monday, as the Senate got back to work in Washington, D.C., following a two-week break.

In a similar vein, Pence - whose campaign to become the 2024 Republican presidential nominee fizzled out last fall - has been talking up a $2 million advertising campaign targeting TikTok that his advocacy group is spearheading. The campaign calls for viewers to phone Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and "urge him to bring the TikTok bill to a vote." But Pence also has acknowledged the House's measure might flounder.

"I am concerned that this vitally important national-security measure could be caught up in the delays in the United States Senate and ultimately be lost in the fog of presidential politics," the former VP told Fox News on Monday.

Schumer hasn't displayed a sense of great urgency on the issue. He wrote in a Friday letter to colleagues that Tik Tok legislation is among the matters that the Senate has "the opportunity to make progress on" in the "weeks and months ahead."

Another key senator - Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state - told reporters Monday that the House measure "could be better" and might not hold up in court. She has indicated she may aim to hold a public hearing on TikTok.

Analysts have been divided on the House bill's prospects in the Senate, with some predicting that neither that measure nor anything similar will be passed in that chamber before the November elections.

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican White House nominee, flip-flopped on TikTok last month, saying he no longer supports a ban because it would benefit Facebook (META), which he characterized as "an enemy of the people." President Joe Biden, on the other hand, has promised to sign the TikTok bill into law if it clears both chambers of Congress.

Analysts at Raymond James said in a Monday note that they think it's "more likely than not that a TikTok ban (either the House-passed bill or one with a similar effect) will pass during the current Congress," meaning by Jan. 3. But if the Senate's TikTok legislation is not largely similar to the House's measure, there won't be a resolution until after the election, the analysts said.

TikTok's Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd., has been ramping up its spending on Washington lobbying, although its outlays for this year's first quarter aren't expected to be disclosed until later this month. ByteDance shelled out at least $8.7 million in 2023, up from less than $5 million in both 2022 and 2021, and just $2.6 million in 2020, according to OpenSecrets data.

Related:

Congress could take TikTok off your phone. But here's why it may take a while.

As Congress returns this week, TikTok steps up its fight against a possible ban

-Victor Reklaitis

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04-09-24 1109ET

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