TikTok ban, Norfolk Southern CEO testifies, Social Security bill: 3 things to watch in politics

Lawmakers are pushing forward with new legislation aimed at cracking down on TikTok and simplifying Social Security terminology, plus Norfolk Southern's CEO is set to testify this week following a second train derailment in Ohio.

Here are three things to watch at the intersection of business and politics:

TikTok ban to be introduced

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) is expected to introduce bipartisan legislation with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that will give the U.S. broad authority to restrict China-based apps such as ByteDance's TikTok.

A wide bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has raised concerns about China's ability to push anti-America propaganda through the platform — especially to young people — in a sometimes covert way.

Warner, a former telecom executive, noted that the algorithms TikTok deploys in China are different than those in the U.S. TikTok shows content to Chinese children that "is all about science and engineering," Warner told Fox News over the weekend, "versus what our kids see, there’s a radical difference."

“They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe," Warner added. "But what worries me more with TikTok is that this can be a propaganda tool. We have never had a potential adversary like China. The Soviet Union, Russia, was military or ideological; China is investing in economic areas. They have $500 billion in intellectual property theft, and we are in a competition not just on a national security basis but on a technology basis."

"That's why national security now includes telecommunications, satellites, artificial intelligence, quantum computing," he continued. For "each of these domains, we have got to make the kind of investments to stay ahead."

Norfolk Southern CEO testifies before Congress

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday as lawmakers address the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. And a second train derailment in Ohio last weekend has only increased scrutiny over rail safety measures.

Members of Congress have said they want Norfolk Southern (NSC) to pay for the cleanup in East Palestine. But there's also a growing push for broader legislation that would put more regulations in place for companies like Norfolk Southern.

There seems to be bipartisan support in the Senate for new rail regulations; however, it's unknown if the Republican-controlled House will back it.

Meanwhile, Republicans have criticized Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's handling of the derailment. Buttigieg, a rising star in the Democratic Party who may still harbor presidential ambitions, pushed back against those criticisms in an interview last week with CNN.

"It's really rich to see some of these folks — the former president [Donald Trump], these Fox hosts — who are literally lifelong card-carrying members of the East Coast elite, whose top economic policy priority has always been tax cuts for the wealthy, and who wouldn’t know their way around a T.J. Maxx if their life depended on it, to be presenting themselves as if they genuinely care about the forgotten middle of the country," Buttigieg said.

Lawmakers introduce retirement legislation

A new bipartisan push from lawmakers would bring back paper communication in an effort to help retiring seniors access retirement savings and make better financial choices.

Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are pushing for legislation that would better inform seniors that if they opt to wait a few years to access Social Security, they will receive larger payments, Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reported.

On average, retirees in the U.S. miss out on about $111,000 per household by opting into receiving Social Security payments at 62 years old — oftentimes a financially sub-optimal time, Werschkul noted.

Lawmakers are calling for a drastic redesign and simplification of the process that would seek to make it much easier for retiring seniors to understand their financial choices as it relates to Social Security.

Kevin Cirilli is a visiting media fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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