President Biden made good on his promise to quickly sign the $95 billion foreign aid bill passed by the Senate Tuesday — and started the clock ticking on TikTok.
“History will remember this moment,” the president said Wednesday morning after praising Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate for coming together to approve an aid package that sends $60 billion to Ukraine, plus $26 billion to the Middle East to support Israel and give aid to Palestinians in Gaza “with no delay.”
The president has been clear from the start that signing this foreign aid package would be a priority for his administration.
“I urge the Senate to send the national security package to my desk so I can immediately sign it into law,” he posted to social media over the weekend after the House gave its stamp of approval.
A provision to pressure the Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok to an American business incentivised House Republicans to support the bill Saturday. Lawmakers worry the Chinese government might weaponize information gathered on the 170 million Americans who use the popular social media platform.
The bill gives ByteDance 270 days, or nine months, to sell TikTok to a U.S. company. An earlier version of the bill proposed a six-month deadline. Biden could extend that window to one year before the platform could face a ban.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew promised TikTok will continue to fight for its independence in court shortly after Biden signed Wednesday’s bill into law.
“It’s obviously a disappointing moment, but it doesn’t need to be a defining one,” he said in a video posted online Wednesday morning. “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere.”
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Efrem Lukatsky/AP Ukrainian servicemen unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles, delivered as part of the United States of America’s security assistance to Ukraine, at the Boryspil airport, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 11, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)
The House passed the divisive legislation Saturday, despite some Republican objections over sending aid to Ukraine. On the Senate side, Democrat Bernie Sanders took issue with further financing Israel’s military in Gaza.
Biden noted in his speech Wednesday that the proposal he signed was notably missing funding to secure the United States’ southern border, which continues to see a heavy flow of migrants after some Republican lawmakers thwarted a bipartisan bill to stem the tide in February.
“It should have been included in this bill and I’m determined to get it done for the American people,” Biden said Wednesday.
