• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, March 24, 2025

Three Senate Democrats are asking President Donald Trump to support a bill that would give TikTok an additional six months to separate from China-based parent company ByteDance.

“Without any further action from Congress, the 170 million Americans that rely on TikTok will continue to face uncertainty about TikTok’s future,” Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) said in a letter to Trump.

“Creators will continue to fear that the platform could disappear at any moment. This situation is unfair and unworkable,” the lawmakers added.

The lawmakers are asking Trump to support the proposed Extend the TikTok Deadline Act, which would extend TikTok's divestiture deadline until October 16.

“Senate Republicans blocked passage of our bill,” the lawmakers wrote to Trump. “If you need additional time to complete a deal, we urge you to direct Senate Republicans to pass our legislation and provide the companies with legal certainty to keep TikTok online and in the app stores over the next few months.”

The lawmakers introduced the bill on January 14, several days before the Supreme Court upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521). That law set a January 19 for TikTok to separate from ByteDance, or be banned from U.S. app stores.

After Trump was sworn in as president, he signed an executive order that extended TikTok's divestiture deadline until April 5. He also has reportedly suggested the administration might approve a deal between ByteDance and U.S. companies -- including Oracle -- that would allow TikTok to remain in the country.

The senators call Trump's unilateral extension of the deadline unlawful, arguing that Congress is the appropriate body to revise the deadline set out in the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

“The path to saving TikTok should run through Capitol Hill,” they write.

In addition to asking Trump to support the bill that would extend TikTok's divestiture deadline, the lawmakers are also asking Trump to answer several questions -- including whether he intends to issue another executive order that would extend the deadline, and whether his administration is considering approving a deal that would give Oracle a stake in TikTok.