Trump's Turn: Biden Won't Enforce TikTok Ban Sunday
Plus, toxic debris delays repopulation efforts in LA & SpaceX rocket explosion over Caribbean leads to flight diversions
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Good morning,
The latest debate on Capitol Hill: how many hours should staffers work? On Thursday, the Congressional Progressive Staff Association proposed a rotating 32-hour workweek on the Hill—a place where working double those hours is common for many staffers.
In a letter to House and Senate leadership, the organization — and its roughly 1,500 members — proposed a 32-hour workweek for Hill staff when Congress is out of session, and the same for district staff when members are in Washington. That’s without a cut in pay or benefits.
They argue it will “improve worker satisfaction, increase staff retention in Congress, and model a more sustainable approach to work on a national level.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) joked on X, “Why not be bold and ask for a 0-hour workweek?”
Last year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a bill to establish a 32-hour workweek nationally.
We’re not holding our breath!
Mosheh, Jill, Sari, & Lauren
📌 TIKTOK SAVED? BIDEN LETTING TRUMP DECIDE APP’S FATE
The Biden administration says it won’t enforce a ban on TikTok set to take effect Sunday — a day before President-elect Trump takes office. "Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement," a White House official told ABC News on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to release a decision, as early as 10 a.m. ET today, on whether the law forcing Tiktok’s parent company to sell the app, or face a ban is constitutional.
Rewind: Congress passed a law last year requiring TikTok’s Chinese-based owner, ByteDance, to divest from the platform or face a U.S. ban by Jan 19, 2025. The Biden administration argues that the company’s relationship with the Chinese government poses a national security threat. TikTok has argued that the law violates the First Amendment.
Under the current law, tech companies would not be allowed to have TikTok in their app stores after Sunday – effectively blocking new users and updates for current users. But TikTok had threatened to go completely dark on its 170 million U.S. users if the Court or lawmakers didn’t step in.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
For days leading up to the deadline, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seemed to reverse course on the bipartisan law they’d passed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats appealed to President Biden to delay the Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) unsuccessfully tried to pass a bill extending the deadline, saying “TikTok has its problems” but a ban would be “silencing millions.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) blocked Markey’s attempt, calling TikTok a “Chinese Communist spy app” and arguing that ByteDance had ample time to divest.
Even Donald Trump, who once sought to ban TikTok himself, appeared to want to delay the ban.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, reportedly honored with a seat on the dais alongside other tech leaders.
On Thursday, a White House official told POLITICO that Biden doesn’t have authority to grant an extension without a credible divestiture plan in place. “The company has not only not advanced such a plan, they have signaled they have no intention of selling it to an American owner,” the person added.
But late Thursday night, officials from Biden’s team said the outgoing administration has chosen to not enforce the law on their last day in office, and instead let Trump’s team decide what to do.
COME SUNDAY
The app will now not go dark, unlike what TikTok reportedly planned to do – in a move that was seen as a game of chicken with the Biden White House.
Come Monday, President Trump could sign an executive order suspending enforcement of the ban for 60-90 days. Though legal scholars caution that the move does not override a bipartisan law.
“It will still be banned, and it will still be illegal for Apple and Google to do business with them. But it will make the president’s intention not to enforce the law that much more official,” said Alan Rozenshtein, a former Justice Department adviser.
📌 LA WILDFIRE RECOVERY IMPACTED BY TOXIC DEBRIS REMOVAL
It has been 10 days since Los Angeles since the apocalyptic wildfires across LA first started. Despite warnings of stronger winds this past week, firefighters were able to make some progress containing the fires continuing to threaten to devastate additional homes and buildings across America’s second largest city.
The Palisades Fire was 22% contained on Thursday, with 23,713 acres burned. That’s up from 19% early Wednesday.
10 people are dead, 1,280 structures are destroyed, and 11 arrests have been made in connection to the fire.
The Eaton Fire climbed to 55% containment on Thursday — 10% more than the day before – and 14,117 acres burned.
17 are dead, 4,718 structures destroyed, and 36 arrests were made in connection to that fire.
Tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents are still under evacuation orders, anxiously awaiting word on when they can return home. But the extensive presence of toxic debris is slowing repopulation efforts.
RETURNING HOME
The EPA and local public works teams are working to assess and clear hazardous materials, including pesticides, batteries, fuel, and other dangerous household waste, while ensuring air quality and environmental conditions are safe for residents to return.
Debris from homes that burned can release toxic chemicals into the air that eventually settle into the soil.
Lead pipes, fireproofing material, and other elements of older homes also release poisons when burned, posing long-term health risks to people in the area.
Even in homes that did not go up in flames, smoke damage from nearby fires could affect indoor air quality.
Soot and larger particles like ash can also cause a range of adverse health effects.
Bottom line: Due to all of this, it could be years of inspections and cleanup before rebuilding can take place for everyone who has lost a home or business.
David Michaels, former head of OSHA, highlighted the tough decisions authorities face in the coming weeks: while scientists know the debris and ash are toxic, residents are eager to return to their properties to assess the damage.
When residents are allowed to return home, experts recommend wearing masks, goggles, gloves, and long sleeves/pants to reduce direct exposure to dangerous material.
📌 A TALE OF TWO ROCKET LAUNCHES: MIXED RESULTS FOR BEZOS AND MUSK
It was a fascinating day Thursday for the two space companies controlled by the world’s richest two men. Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its rocket into orbit on its first test flight, on the same day that Elon Musk's SpaceX launched a rocket that exploded, and led to emergency flight diversions. Both companies were founded around the same time 25 years ago, but SpaceX has made significantly more progress in that time.
First up, just after 2amET, was Bezos. His company launched their first rocket into orbit after scrubbing an initial attempt earlier this week. The successful test flight of the unmanned New Glenn rocket is a major step in the company's hopes to soon challenge SpaceX.
Next, SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket just after 5pmET. While its booster stage launched flawlessly and repeated an impressive "catch" back at base with the famous chop sticks, the rocket's upper stage experienced a major malfunction and broke apart.
The goal of the mission was the have the rocket lap Earth and splash down in the Indian Ocean an hour later.
But around 9 minutes after launch, ground controllers lost communication. SpaceX said in a statement that “initial data indicates a fire developed” near the tail end of Starship and destroyed the vehicle.
Soon after, social media users started posting videos of debris raining down over the Caribbean.
Some airlines rerouted flights near the Caribbean while they were mid-air, and others delayed flights before takeoff.
SpaceX will likely face scrutiny from the FAA over the potential danger it caused to commercial planes. Nonetheless, the outgoing head of NASA, Bill Nelson, congratulated SpaceX on the test.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Trump nominees Burgum, Bessent, Zeldin face confirmation hearings as witnesses support Bondi (FOX)
📌 Rudy Giuliani avoids trial by settling with Georgia election workers he defamed (CNN)
📌 Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane survives. Volunteers hope to turn the lights on again (YAHOO)
📌 Ron DeSantis picks Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill Marco Rubio's Senate seat (NBC)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 UK leader Starmer signs ‘100-year partnership’ agreement with Ukraine during trip to Kyiv (BBC)
📌 Standoff in South Africa ends with 87 miners dead and anger over police’s ‘smoke them out’ tactics (AP)
📌 Pope Francis injures arm after falling at the Vatican (CNN)
📌 U.K. announces new inquiries into decade-old cases of child sexual grooming after pressure sparked by Elon Musk tweet (CBS)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket into orbit on 1st flight (SPACE)
📌 American Express to pay $230 million to settle DOJ fraud probe, deceptive marketing claim (CNBC)
📌 FDA officially authorizes Zyn nicotine pouches for sale following health review (NBC)
📌 Cancer deaths are declining, but diagnoses are rising especially among younger women (NPR)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 ‘The Bachelor’ stars Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell split after 4 years of dating (PEOPLE)
📌 Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400 million, alleges they sought to ‘destroy’ him (VARIETY)
📌 Barbie doll of Aaliyah sells out on late R&B star's birthday (NBC)
📌 Jessica Alba confirms split from Cash Warren after nearly 17 years of marriage: ‘New chapter of growth’ (PAGE SIX)
🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN’ WKND
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Mosh: A Real Pain ~ Hulu; Jill: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State in the National Championship.
WHAT WE’RE READING: Mosh: Is Moderate Drinking Okay? ~ The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson; Jill: The Daily Dad newsletter ~ Ryan Holiday
Want a new book this weekend? New listeners can get one free month of Amazon Audible Premium Plus. For hundreds of thousands of audio books and podcasts, Click HERE!
WHAT WE’RE EATING: Mosh: New York Shuk spices; Jill: Apple cake.