The Senate is all but certain to pass the House-approved package that could ultimately ban TikTok if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell the app, part of a multi-billion-dollar package of funding to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan that is now teed up for a final vote as soon as Tuesday evening.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) arrives on Capitol Hill on April 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Senate voted Tuesday to overcome the filibuster on the a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, setting the bill up for passage as soon as Tuesday evening. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- The Senate voted 80-19 to invoke cloture on all four pieces of legislation, clearing the two-thirds threshold needed to end the filibuster and setting the bills up for passage within 30 hours after Tuesday’s 2:45 p.m. vote.
- The Senate, which delayed its planned recess to address the $95 billion foreign aid package, divided into three separate bills, held the procedural votes after the House on Saturday passed the three bills with bipartisan support.
- The Senate also approved a fourth bill tacked on to the foreign aid package to entice hesitant right-wing lawmakers that would impose sanctions on Russia, China and Iran and force China-based TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban in the U.S.
What To Watch For
Biden has said he will sign the four bills into law.
Key Background
The three separate foreign aid bills would deliver about $26 billion in aid to Israel, $61 billion to Ukraine and $8 billion to the U.S.’s Indo-Pacific partners.
The funding threshold is in line with a previous version of the foreign aid package the Senate passed in February, with some modifications, including structuring about $9 billion of the Ukraine aid as a loan.
The TikTok legislation would require ByteDance to sell to a company that is not affiliated with a U.S. adversary, such as China, Russia or Iran, within 270 days, about nine months, with an option for Biden to extend the timeline by 90 days if he sees “significant progress” toward a sale. If the app isn’t sold by the deadline, it could be banned in the United States.
Lawmakers have increasingly raised concerns about whether TikTok could send data on U.S. users to the Chinese government or promote propaganda—worries that were amplified after the company admitted to tracking the location of U.S. citizens, including Forbes journalists, to track leaks.
TikTok has long denied any ties to China’s government and said it would refuse any effort to obtain U.S. user data. The bill is likely to face significant legal hurdles that could delay or block its implementation, however, as TikTok has expressed plans to fight the legislation in court and the Chinese government, which is required to approve a sale, has also expressed resistance.
Tangent
The February Senate foreign aid package stalled in the House as former President Donald Trump argued the U.S. should not provide foreign aid to its allies unless in the form of a loan. It marked the second time this year Trump scuttled the foreign aid package.
Weeks before the February vote, the Senate was set to approve a deal that would tack on new border controls, but it ultimately fizzled when Trump urged Republicans to vote against it, arguing the immigration measures did not go far enough and would be a victory for Biden in an election year when immigration is a top concern for voters.
Congress faced renewed pressure to pass the foreign aid package as Ukraine appears to be on the edge of defeat in its war with Russia and after Iran attacked Israel earlier this month. The latest version of the legislation does not include additional border controls.
Surprising Fact
Trump defended House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after he pushed the package through the House despite threats from right-wing lawmakers, namely Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to bring a “motion to vacate” that would begin the process for removing Johnson as speaker. Trump, noting the difficulty of Johnson’s job in passing any legislation without Democrats’ support, called Johnson “a very good person” in a Monday interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks. “Well, look, we have a majority of one, OK? It’s not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do,” Trump said, adding that he was pleased Johnson supported his call for some of the aid to Ukraine to be structured as a loan.
This article was first published on forbes.com.
