TikTok ban one step closer to reality as Senate sends $95 BILLION Ukraine, ... trends now
The Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill late Tuesday, now sending the legislation to the president's desk.
The package that passed 79-18 ties together $60 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and Gaza and around $4 billion for the Indo-Pacific - and a measure that could see TikTok banned in the U.S.
'Getting this done is one of the greatest achievements of the Senate in years, perhaps decades,' Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said hours ahead of the bill's final passage.
But the 170 million U.S. fans of TikTok are watching with acute concern as the legislation could lead to the outlaw of their favorite video-sharing platform.
A fourth component of the legislation includes several measures such as requiring TikTok divest from its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance, an effort to obtain seized Russian assets and a lend-lease program for military aid to Ukraine.
The House already passed a bill to force ByteDance to divest from TikTok, but the new catch-all legislation would give TikTok one year rather than six months to separate itself from China - or else be banned in the U.S.
But fans of TikTok are watching with acute concern as the legislation could lead to the outlaw of their favorite video-sharing platform
Package gives billions to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and could potentially ban TikTok
TikTok has suggested the legislation amounts to a 'total ban in the United States,' hinting that ByteDance isn't interested in selling.
'It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,' a TikTok spokesperson told DailyMail.com Saturday.
Attaching the measure to the foreign aid forced the Senate to vote on it after Schumer dragged his feet at putting it on the floor.
The so-called 'side car' bill also includes a provision involving the REPO Act, meaning it would seize Russian assets that until now have only been frozen and repurpose them for Ukraine, and one that would involve the Lend-Lease Act, which would require Ukraine to give back U.S. military assets that are not destroyed in war.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., meanwhile raised concerns about a provision in the package that would force Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a U.S. ban.
'The censors who abound in Congress will likely vote to ban TikTok or force a change in ownership,' he wrote in an op-ed for Reason this week. 'It would violate the First Amendment rights of over 100 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves.'
The bill passed the House on Saturday in four separate votes before being packaged together for the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson risked his career to get Ukraine aid to the Senate - three Republicans have now signed onto a motion to oust him over the Ukraine aid.
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who is trying to steer the Republican Party away from its isolationist trend, celebrated the bill's passing and blamed anti-Ukraine sentiment on Tucker Carlson 'who, in my opinion, ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,' he said.
McConnell said that Carlson's 'enormous audience' convinced 'a lot of rank and file Republicans' that helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia is not important.
The Ukraine bill includes $23 billion for replenishing U.S. stockpiles
