Key events
Trump signals support for TikTok as ban decision looms
If the supreme court allows the TikTok sell-or-ban law to go into effect, it will be up to Donald Trump to enforce it, and the incoming president has said he wants to keep the popular social media app available.
NBC News reports that Joe Biden’s administration does not plan to enforce the ban in what would be the final hours of its administration, assuming TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance does not find an American buyer. In Congress, forcing the sale of TikTok was a bipartisan cause, but Trump has warmed to the app, and even invited its CEO to sit on the dais at Monday’s inauguration.
Here are the steps he could take to allow it to remain available, even if ByteDance does not sell:
Supreme court to release opinions, with challenge to TikTok ban awaiting decision
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The supreme court has announced it will release opinions at 10am ET today, as a challenge to a law that will ban TikTok on Sunday unless its China-based owner sells its US business awaits the justices’ decision. As usual, the court did not say how many opinions will be released or on which cases, and thus we will just have to wait an hour or so to find out. Should they decide the TikTok case, we do have some hints on how the justices may rule – in oral arguments last week, they seemed inclined to uphold the law.
Meanwhile, we are in the final days of Joe Biden’s administration, and the Democratic president is making some last-minute moves ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival on Monday. This morning, he announced clemency for about 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses, as well as 15 more prescription drugs that Medicare will negotiate lower prices for. Biden still could have more executive actions planned before he leaves office, including preemptive pardons to Trump’s enemies. We’ll let you know if he announces anything else today.
Here’s what else is going on:
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If the TikTok ban is allowed to stand, the Biden administration does not plan to enforce it, NBC News reports.
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Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor who Trump picked for homeland security chief, has her Senate confirmation hearing at 9am today.
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Israel’s cabinet just approved the Gaza ceasefire deal. Follow our live blog for more on this breaking story.
