Congress is about to ban TikTok from U.S. government phones

TikTok would be banned from most U.S. government devices under a government spending bill Congress unveiled early Tuesday, the latest push by American lawmakers against the Chinese-owned social media app. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

Having TikTok on a device issued by the federal government is about to become illegal under a sprawling spending bill for the upcoming fiscal year released by lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday. It is expected to become law in the coming days to avert a partial government shutdown.

While the Chinese-owned app is already not allowed on many federal government devices, the measure in the new spending bill expands the prohibition. The ban will likely result in a hit to TikTok's reputation at a time when the Biden administration is still attempting to complete a national security review of the popular app.