Biden's administration is racing against time to prevent TikTok from disappearing on Sunday, amid a ban pushed by lawmakers. Officials say the White House hopes to avoid a sudden shutdown that could spur public outcry, potentially handing the issue to Trump's incoming leadership.
According to a recent allegation, the White House is currently engaged in an 11th-hour attempt behind the scenes to prevent TikTok from going dark on the phones of Americans as early as Sunday.
Reports indicate that the administration of President Joe Biden is apparently "exploring options" in order to find a way to circumvent the legislative restriction that will prevent the popular program that millions of Americans have downloaded from becoming unavailable on January 19.
An official from the administration has reportedly warned that the United States of America should not anticipate that TikTok will be suddenly blocked on Sunday. This information was reported by NBC News.
The outcry, especially among the younger generation, would not characterize Biden's last full day in office if he took such action to rescue TikTok before the Jan. 19 deadline. Instead, the matter would be deferred until after Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, according to NBC News.
Mike Waltz, who will be joining Trump's national security team, recently told Fox News that the president-elect is prepared to step in and maintain the Chinese-owned video app's access to the American market, so the potential delay by Biden administration officials could be a response to that.
When taken as a whole, the actions indicate parallel efforts by the competing presidents to carry out an end run around Congress and the Supreme Court, which is poised to give a verdict on the ban at any time, according to the network.
If, on the other hand, the prohibition were to be retained, the official from the White House reiterated that they would put the restriction into effect, The Raw Story points out.
"We are not considering deferring enforcement," the official stated, according to NBC News' reporting. "Statutorily, we don't believe we have the authority to do that."
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court looked unable to throw down the law that was passed by Congress the previous year, which required TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell up the platform or risk a ban in the United States, President Trump has pledged to execute an executive order that will nullify the statute.
