While a bipartisan group of senators expressed “deep concern” about TikTok’s risk to the American public, the Senate has no clear path forward on passing legislation to clamp down on the social media platform.
The House passed a bill to push Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest within six months or face being banned in the United States. The vote was an overwhelming 352 to 62 in favor. However, the bill’s path remains unclear in the upper chamber, especially after senators are about to break for a two-week congressional recess.
“The district work period certainly has the potential to kill the momentum, take the wind out of our sails,” said a Senate aide close to negotiations surrounding the bill in the upper chamber. “I can tell you members on both sides were shocked to find out the extent that the app is able to access users’ personal data, I can’t say more than that.”
The comments follow a closed-door and classified national security briefing senators had on …