Defying Trump, House GOP plans to forge ahead with TikTok bill that could ban app
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House Republican leaders are expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok, even as former President Trump appears to undermine efforts to restrict the app.
Fox News Digital has learned that the House of Representatives is expected to take the bill up under suspension of the rules, meaning it bypasses the usual procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds.
The bill passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee in an unprecedented bipartisan 50-0 vote on Thursday.
GOP LAWMAKERS PRESS TIKTOK CEO ON 'DELUGE OF PRO-HAMAS CONTENT' ON PLATFORM
Later that same day, Trump posted on his Truth Social app, "If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don't want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!"
The measure would ban TikTok from online app stores if its parent company, ByteDance, does not divest from it within 165 days. ByteDance is a Beijing-headquartered tech company that critics say is under the influence of China’s ruling communist party, a claim the company has denied.
But top U.S. officials have warned that TikTok likely gives the Chinese government access to mountains of sensitive American