Biden signs Ukraine aid, TikTok ban bills after Republican battle
- Biden signed the bill into law that provides billions of dollars of new aid to Ukraine, notching a rare bipartisan victory for the president as he seeks re-election
- He also signed a separate bill tied to the legislation that bans TikTok in the US if its owner, ByteDance, fails to divest the app over the 270 days
US President Joe Biden signed a hard-fought bill into law on Wednesday that provides billions of dollars of new aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, notching a rare bipartisan victory for the president as he seeks re-election and ending months of wrangling with Republicans in Congress.
“It gives vital support to America’s partners so they can defend themselves from threats to their sovereignty,” Biden said.
Biden also signed a separate bill tied to the legislation that bans TikTok in the United States if its owner, the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, fails to divest the popular short video app over the next nine months to a year.
TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi said on Wednesday the company expects to win a legal challenge to block the legislation that would ban the app used by 170 million Americans.
“Rest assured – we aren’t going anywhere,” he said in a video posted moments after Biden signed the bill that gives China-based ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok’s US assets. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again.”
The social media platform is particularly popular with left-leaning young Americans, a group crucial to Biden’s victory in November.
Biden, a Democrat who is expected to face Republican former President Donald Trump in the November election, has pressed lawmakers for six months to approve more funding for Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years.