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February 7, 2025
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THE TOP
Vance gets the TikTok portfolio
Happy Friday morning.
News: President Donald Trump has tasked Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz with overseeing a potential sale of TikTok, according to multiple sources on Capitol Hill and the White House.
Vance is in charge of “quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok,” according to a source familiar with the matter. Waltz and the National Security Council are in charge of the national security aspect of any potential transaction.
The assignment puts Vance and Waltz in the midst of high-profile tech, diplomatic and national security questions, including who will end up owning TikTok or if the U.S. ban on the influential and valuable social media app goes back into effect in April.
It’s a politically sensitive mission too, as the fallout could be intense if the 170 million Americans and millions of businesses that use the app suddenly find themselves cut off.
One of their first tasks may be handling hardline views on the app from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the number-three Republican and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. We’ll explain why below.
Like so much of what we write about here, the Vance/Waltz assignment sprouts from a mix of congressional dysfunction, as well as Trump’s own tendency to overpromise and skirt the rules.
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s how we got here:
In 2024, Congress passed a bipartisan law that would force smartphones to cut off TikTok unless the app’s Chinese owners sold it to a U.S. company. The deadline to put the app into American hands was Jan. 19 — the last full day of former President Joe Biden’s administration. That part was easy enough.
But TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has very little interest in selling. As Biden’s presidency came to an end, there was scant evidence of a potential deal, leading to fearful pleas by Democrats that Biden pause enforcement of the law so Democrats wouldn’t get the political blame.
There was little grounds for an extension under the law either. So TikTok shut down dramatically, only to come back and thank Trump when he signed an order on his first day pausing enforcement for 75 days. That period ends in early April.
Publicly, most Republicans cheered that the self-proclaimed dealmaker-in-chief was taking charge of making TikTok American-owned. However, some national security hawks — led by Cotton — were upset with the talk of pauses.
We’ll note that, despite Trump’s claims that his administration is holding off on enforcement, the phone app stores that face potentially huge fines under the law still aren’t making TikTok available for new downloads.
Now, Vance and Waltz will be in charge of making a deal that addresses all those issues and does so quickly. As if it didn’t seem complicated enough, Trump has also floated that the U.S. government itself might own some of the app, potentially through a newly created sovereign wealth fund. Trump has also suggested that Chinese firms might be able to retain some interest in TikTok.
Vance, of course, is a former venture capitalist, meaning he does have the benefit of coming from the tech deal-making world. Vance is the Senate whisperer too, should Cotton and his fellow hawks continue raising concerns.
There are some proposals on the table for Vance to start with as well. Trump has suggested Microsoft is interested in buying TikTok. The president also seems to like the idea of Elon Musk doing so as well. Billionaire Frank McCourt and his business partner Kevin O’Leary (the “Shark Tank” guy) have been campaigning to take over TikTok as well.
In fact, we’ve learned McCourt was back on Capitol Hill meeting with Republicans this week as he builds the case for his acquisition and recruits allies to the effort. Part of McCourt’s pitch for why he should buy TikTok is that he and O’Leary are actually proposing to fully end Chinese control.
McCourt, who was on the Hill ahead of Trump’s inauguration too, met with Cotton. Here’s the download via Cotton spokesperson Patrick McCann:
Cotton and Vance may have a lot to talk about.
— Ben Brody, John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman
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RECONCILIATION
House Republicans race to show budget progress amid Senate pressure
House Republicans are racing to show progress on their budget plans as they try to stave off pressure from the Senate to switch to a two-bill approach while postponing tax cuts until later this year.
Following a marathon day of meetings, Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters late Thursday night that he hopes the House Budget Committee could hold a markup on reconciliation instructions next Tuesday. That would be a big step forward on unlocking President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
“We are very, very close, and I’m very optimistic and happy about it,” Johnson said as he exited his Capitol office following a two-hour-plus meeting with other GOP leaders, House committee chairs and hardline conservatives.
Johnson said “Tuesday is the target” for a markup.
Johnson also said House Republicans are aiming to unveil their framework as soon as today, although — as is the case with everything around here — that timeline could slip.
However, House GOP Leaders are eager to put something on paper before Senate Republicans trek to Mar-a-Lago for their own meeting with Trump this evening.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is still planning to move forward with his “skinny” budget resolution that includes $150 billion for defense, another $150 billion for border security and energy policy changes. This amount would be fully offset.
Johnson made clear once again that he wants the House — with its razor-thin margin of GOP control — to go first with one big bill. When asked whether the Senate should hold off and let the House lead the way on a markup, Johnson said, “I certainly hope so.”
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said that the group of Republicans who’d been working to hammer out reconciliation instructions all day were “getting really close” on details.
“Early next week we will know if we’ve got a deal that’s ready to be marked up,” Arrington said.
House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain said the resolution was “not 100% resolved” but that there were “very, very, very few” details to iron out.
The details. One of the biggest sticking points for House Republicans has been the level of spending cuts. House GOP leadership had initially proposed $500 billion to $1 trillion, but conservative hardliners have been pushing for at least $2.5 trillion in cuts.
While that final number is still under discussion, there was consensus in the room that they will need to cut more than $1 trillion in order to get conservative hardliners on board, according to a GOP source familiar with the matter. The House Freedom Caucus had their own huddle Thursday night to talk things over.
Other issues that remain unresolved include how to address the cap on deducting state and local taxes and whether to include a suspension of the debt ceiling, both of which were discussed during the Thursday meeting at the White House, according to attendees.
Republicans did, however, agree that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts should be permanently extended. Trump also laid out several other tax priorities he wants to see in the package, including eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime pay. And Trump threw in new tax priorities like getting rid of sports team owners’ tax breaks.
Senate full steam ahead. Senate Republicans don’t look like they’re backing down from plans to mark up a budget resolution for a border, defense and energy-focused package next week. That would leave a tax bill to get done later in the year.
Senate Republicans plan to talk about their budget resolution and the path forward during a meeting with Trump tonight, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters.
In response to Graham moving ahead, Arrington pointed to Trump’s support for the House’s one-bill approach right now. But Arrington acknowledged that if Trump changes his mind or feels a need for border money faster, “we’d certainly want to accommodate the president.”
– John Bresnahan, Laura Weiss, Melanie Zanona and Jake Sherman
SENATE GOP
Witkoff’s Gaza pitch confuses GOP senators
Republican senators left a Wednesday briefing from White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff confused about President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.
Multiple senators told us Witkoff’s appearance at a closed-door GOP lunch left them with far more questions than answers, giving the impression of an administration with little substance behind its ambitious plan to take control of the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Lawmakers have been wondering exactly what Trump and top administration officials have in mind ever since the president announced on Monday that he wants the United States to “take over” Gaza, resettle the Palestinian population and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump repeated again Thursday on Truth Social that “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting… The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!”
Witkoff’s appearance before the Republican lunch didn’t clear up much beyond asserting that any action to rebuild Gaza would take well over a decade.
“I’d need more information than we got,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told us. “It’s not thoroughly thought out yet within the executive branch.”
We heard from other Republican senators that Witkoff sent mixed signals on whether U.S. personnel would be involved in any operations in Gaza. Some of Witkoff’s assertions received pushback from senators in the room, we’re told.
One GOP senator in the meeting told us Witkoff was “Not very well received at all.”
Witkoff said there would be no U.S. troops or financial involvement in this Trump plan, but then talked about the “American personnel” who would be needed to protect the U.S. investment, according to multiple Republican senators.
“Let’s not talk about who explained it better,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told us. “Witkoff is doing an excellent job.”
Wicker defended the idea of relocating Palestinians during the time it takes to rebuild Gaza. But he clarified that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him on Thursday that he’s not expecting U.S. military or funding to be involved.
Isolationist Republicans quickly recoiled at Trump’s proposal, noting the plan was at odds with Trump’s campaign promises to disentangle the United States from foreign wars.
— John Bresnahan and Max Cohen
BIG JOB MOVE
Carr will lead global policy for Palantir
News: Machalagh Carr, the former chief of staff to Speaker Kevin McCarthy, will be the head of global policy for Palantir, the giant technology company.
Carr has a long history at the top levels of Capitol Hill. Before serving as chief of staff, Carr was McCarthy’s general counsel, general counsel and oversight staff director of the House Ways and Means Committee and the oversight and investigations director for the House Oversight Committee.
Palantir is one of the nation’s foremost technology companies. Peter Thiel founded the company and serves as the chairman of the board of trustees. Palantir has a gigantic government business, working with the military and intelligence community.
The Carrs are a bit of a power couple now. Machalagh’s husband, Brendan Carr, is the chair of the Federal Communications Commission.
— Jake Sherman
THE CAMPAIGN
News: Unrig Our Economy, a Democratic outside group, is launching an eight-figure ad buy targeting Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) on tax policy.
The ads — which are running on TV, streaming and digital — accuse the House Republicans of supporting tax breaks for billionaires while raising costs for the middle class.
Bacon and Lawler are two of the three House Republicans who won reelection in 2024 in a district carried by Vice President Kamala Harris. Here’s the ad attacking Bacon.
Money game: Lobbying firm KDCR held a dinner for the DSCC on Wednesday night that raised more than $225,000. Senate Democrats Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) Ed Markey (Mass.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) were there alongside DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand.
The guest list included reps from CVS, Pinterest, RILA, the International Franchise Association, Best Buy, Abbott and T-Mobile.
— Max Cohen and Laura Weiss
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