Senator Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is expressing concerns about the Trump administration’s handling of TikTok’s legally required divestiture, citing national security risks and potential legal violations.

In a letter to President Trump, Warner criticized the administration’s April 4 decision to extend TikTok’s divestiture deadline by an additional 75 days, calling it “a clear violation of the law” and the deal being considered would also not meet legal requirements.

Warner emphasized that the bipartisan law passed by Congress only permitted a single extension of no more than 90 days. This marks Trump’s second delay in enforcing the 2024 law that mandated ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19, 2025, or face a U.S. ban.

Potential TikTok Deal Structure Questionable

According to Warner, the proposed deal framework would not satisfy the statutory requirements for eliminating ByteDance’s influence over TikTok’s U.S. operations. 

The reported arrangement would allow ByteDance to retain a significant equity stake in the divested entity, maintain an active role in technology development and maintenance, and continue involvement with the algorithm governing content displayed to U.S. users.

“The deal being discussed undermines confidence that the divested app can be trusted to protect national security and ensure compliance with the law,” Warner wrote.

Chinese Involvement

The extension comes amid complicated negotiations between the U.S. and China. ByteDance representatives reportedly informed the White House on April 3 that China would not approve the deal until there could be trade and tariff negotiations, a reversal that followed Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs affecting global imports.

Under the potential arrangement, new outside investors would own 50% of TikTok’s U.S. business, with ByteDance’s existing U.S. investors owning approximately 30%, reducing the Chinese company’s stake to just below 20%.

Call for Proper Procedural Implementation

Warner expressed concern that efforts to facilitate a qualified divestiture have not followed the substantive, risk-based inter-agency process contemplated in the law but rather appeared to be an “ad hoc process, driven by White House personnel.”

The senator urged the administration to “immediately convene an inter-agency team to evaluate any prospective divestiture based on genuine, risk-based criteria.” He emphasized that any qualified divestiture must ensure a complete operational separation from ByteDance and TikTok U.S., preventing either company from continuing to “develop, influence, or access personal data or source code” maintained by the divested company.

Warner, who has long led congressional efforts to combat foreign social media influence campaigns, reiterated that only companies not beholden to a U.S. adversary should be eligible buyers of the app.