House Republicans are breaking away from former President Donald Trump on their proposed TikTok legislation, marking a rare moment of disagreement between GOP lawmakers and their de facto party leader.
The House is set to vote on Wednesday on whether to force ByteDance, the Chinese-based owner of TikTok, to divest itself from the popular social media platform. The bill is expected to come to the floor under suspension, meaning it’ll need at least a two-thirds majority to pass — a threshold it is likely to surpass.
The legislation has been met with bipartisan support as both Republicans and Democrats have expressed national security concerns and have pushed for years for widespread restrictions.
However, the bill’s future came into question last week after Trump came out against banning the app — a reversal from his own time in office.
“He’s wrong,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a co-sponsor of the bill. “By the way, he had his own executive orders, his own actions he was doing, and now he’s suddenly flipped around on that.”
Other Republicans, such as Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA), said they weren’t taking Trump’s opinion into account as they decide how to vote, minimizing the former president’s sway on a crucial national security issue.
But even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters on Capitol Hill have sidestepped the former president on the issue.
“I don’t understand that,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said of Trump’s reversal. “It’s controlled by China. China is not our friend, and we’re gonna fight this.”
“Well, oddly enough, I didn’t get a phone call from President Trump before he made his decision,” quipped Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), who said he plans to vote in favor of the bill.
“I support the boss, I love the boss,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), referring to Trump. “I’ll have to have a conversation with him, see what his thought process is.”
Nehls told reporters on Tuesday he plans to vote in favor of the bill.
Some Republicans remained undecided on the bill, with several lawmakers planning to attend a classified briefing with the Justice Department and FBI on Tuesday afternoon, according to an invite obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The legislation would not implement an outright ban of the TikTok app, contrary to messaging from the social media platform last week — sending users into a frenzy and prompting them to inundate their representatives with phone calls.
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Instead, the bill would force ByteDance to divest from the app or be blocked from U.S. app stores and web hosting services, according to the legislation. Some lawmakers expressed concerns with the ambiguity of the legislation, raising questions about how such a measure would be enforced.
“How are you gonna enforce a company that big to divest itself?” Norman said. “What they do is form a shell company and have rights to buy into it later on. … So that’s my big question. Where are the metrics to enforce it?”