WASHINGTON: Two Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged Congress and President Joe Biden to extend a Jan. 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to sell the US assets of TikTok or face a US ban.
The Supreme Court held arguments Friday on Tiktok and ByteDance’s challenge to the law. A lawyer for the companies, Noel Francisco, said it would be impossible to complete a sale by next week’s deadline.
He said if banned, the short video app used by 170 million Americans would quickly go dark and “essentially the platform shuts down.”
Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if he certifies ByteDance is making substantial progress toward a divestiture but it is unlikely ByteDance could meet that standard.
Senator Edward Markey said he planned to introduce legislation to delay the deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days.
“A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process,” Markey said Monday.
“A TikTok ban would impose serious consequences on millions of Americans who depend on the app for social connections and their economic livelihood. We cannot allow that to happen.”
President-elect Donald Trump has asked the court to delay implementation of the law, arguing he should have time after taking office on Jan. 20 to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, on Monday urged Biden and Trump “to put a pause on this ban so 170 million Americans don’t lose their free speech. Millions of Americans’ livelihood will be ended if this ban takes place.”
If the court does not block the law by Sunday, new downloads of TikTok on Apple or Google app stores would be banned but existing users could continue to access the app for some period. Services would degrade and eventually stop working as companies will be barred from providing support.
The White House did not immediately comment.
US lawmakers urge Biden to extend TikTok Jan. 19 ban deadline
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US lawmakers urge Biden to extend TikTok Jan. 19 ban deadline
- Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if he certifies ByteDance is making substantial progress toward a divestiture but it is unlikely ByteDance could meet that standard
NASA astronaut stuck in space for nine months retires
- Suni Williams stepped down from her post on December 27 — making her ill-fated mission her last journey to space
- During her career, Williams logged 608 days in space — the second most cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut
WASHINGTON, United States: A NASA astronaut who was stuck in space for nine months because of problems with her spacecraft has retired after 27 years of service, the space agency said Tuesday.
Suni Williams stepped down from her post on December 27 — making her ill-fated mission her last journey to space.
Williams and fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore set out on an eight-day mission in June 2024 to test fly Boeing’s new Starliner capsule on its first crewed mission when they were unexpectedly marooned.
Despite the incident, Williams on Tuesday called her time with NASA “an incredible honor.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be,” she said in a statement.
Boeing’s new Starliner developed propulsion issues while Williams and Wilmore were traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) and it was deemed unfit to fly back.
The technical problems prompted NASA to entrust the return of their astronauts to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, snubbing Boeing.
The two veteran astronauts finally returned safely back to Earth with SpaceX in March 2025. Wilmore announced his retirement in August that same year.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement on Tuesday that Williams had been a “trailblazer in human spaceflight,” adding that she shaped the “future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station” and paved the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit.
During her career, Williams logged 608 days in space — the second most cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut, the agency said.
She also ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflights by an American due to the Starliner incident, NASA added.
Williams has completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours, the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list.
