Sen. McConnell to High Court: Reject TikTok Appeal

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on national security grounds.

The court has scheduled arguments on the case for Jan. 10. McConnell in a brief filed with the court called the companies' arguments "meritless and unsound. ... This is a standard litigation play at the end of one administration, with a petitioner hoping that the next administration will provide a stay of execution. This court should no more countenance it coming from foreign adversaries than it does from hardened criminals." 

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Jan. 10 about whether the law impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment.