Senate advances Ukraine aid, Israel funding and TikTok ban

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to advance the $95 billion aid package to provide critical aid to Ukraine and a provision that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok.

The vote of 80-19 indicates the legislation has enough support to clear the Senate in a final vote, which could come as soon as Tuesday evening, and then head to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

The package, which passed the House on Saturday, includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said would give his country “a chance at victory” against Russia. It includes $26 billion in aid to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza, in addition to $8 billion for security in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

And it would give TikTok’s China-based parent company nine months, which the president could extend to a year, to sell the popular social media platform or be banned in the U.S. That puts TikTok closer than ever before to a prohibition while ensuring that it won’t be banned until after the 2024 election.

Senators on Tuesday afternoon will discuss whether they can reach a deal to quickly vote to give final passage to the bill later in the day or whether to wait until Wednesday to approve it.

“The finish line is now in sight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement over the weekend, saying the bill’s passage would be “a watershed moment for the defense of democracy.”

Two months ago, the Senate voted 70-29 to pass a similar $95 billion foreign aid package — but without the TikTok provision.

Still, there are signs that the Senate is receptive to the TikTok ban bill, which the House revised.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the chair of the Commerce Committee, endorsed the new bill, saying she’s “very happy” with the extended window for TikTok to be sold. An earlier House-passed bill would have given the parent company six months to sell TikTok. Cantwell noted that she recommended the change.

"I support this updated legislation," she said.

Advocates for banning the app in the U.S. express concerns about TikTok’s relationship to ByteDance, a company based in Beijing, saying Americans’ data could, under Chinese law, be accessed by China’s government, a prospect that TikTok has downplayed, saying its headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles. They also claim China could manipulate the algorithm to advance propaganda.

A TikTok spokesperson responded to the House’s vote over the weekend by saying, “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy annually.”

A source within TikTok said in a memo sent after the House passed the bill that once Biden signs it into law, it "will move to the courts for a legal challenge."

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is lobbying his colleagues to reject the package, saying 41 senators could join to filibuster it.

“The $95 billion bill doesn’t have to pass. It takes only 41 senators stop it,” Lee wrote on X. “There are 49 Republicans in the Senate—more than enough. Where do your senators stand?”