A fresh push in the bipartisan effort to ban TikTok in the U.S. is expected Wednesday, as Republican Sen. Josh Hawley appears poised to seek an expedited vote on the issue. Hawley plans to seek Senate passage by unanimous consent on Wednesday for his bill to prohibit the video-sharing app from being downloaded on U.S. devices, according to multiple published reports.
The Missouri senator’s maneuver isn’t expected to succeed. Just one other lawmaker can block it, and the office of GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said in a statement that he “will object to Senator Hawley’s TikTok ban on the Senate floor.” The objection stems from “a commitment to defend our First Amendment rights and prevent government censorship,” the statement said. A different bill aimed at TikTok is widely viewed as having a better chance. The Restrict Act, proposed by Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, would give the U.S. commerce secretary new abilities to ban foreign technologies on national-security grounds. It has the support of the Biden administration, and as of Wednesday it had 21 co-sponsors in the Senate. See: TikTok CEO criticized by Democrats and Republicans at hearing, as bill that could ban app picks up more supporters Warner and Thune are working with the sponsor of a House bill targeting TikTok, seeking to overcome differences and merge the two measures, according to a Semafor report. The House legislation comes from GOP Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, who chairs the chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee. So, is TikTok actually going to get banned in the U.S. this year? After TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew endured a bipartisan grilling last week in a House hearing, finding little support among Democrats and Republicans, some analysts have predicted that a prohibition is in fact likely. Others have said it’s not. The chances for a ban …