A bill that passed the U.S. House today to ban TikTok from American app stores as long as it remains owned by a Chinese parent company has created a divide in New Jersey’s Democratic Senate primary, with Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) opposing the bill and First Lady Tammy Murphy supporting it.
Kim, of course, is a sitting member of the House, but he was not in Washington today to cast a vote on the bill, which passed 352-65. But the congressman said that if he had been there, his concerns with the bill would have been too great for him to vote yes.
“There are very real security concerns about TikTok and the protection of Americans’ information, but there are more steps and deliberations needed before we in Congress should take the proposed action in this legislation,” Kim said. “I was unable to be in DC this week, but would have voted NO.”
If Kim had indeed been there to cast that vote, he would have been alone in the New Jersey delegation in doing so; all 11 other House members from the state supported the bill, which proponents say would reduce the Chinese government’s ability to exploit American cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Kim said that he’d rather let an outside body, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, make a recommendation on the issue before Congress acts hastily.
“I previously called on my colleagues in Congress to take a comprehensive approach instead of this piecemeal effort to protect data privacy writ large and address the serious concerns about the public safety risks of social media,” he said. “I hope to work with my colleagues on those larger issues moving forward.”
A spokesperson for Murphy, meanwhile, said that if the first lady were in Congress, she “[would] support this bill to protect our data from being sent to an adversarial foreign government.” Murphy’s campaign also attacked Kim for missing the vote, one of a number of House votes Kim has missed in 2024 so far.
“Once again Andy Kim is proving that when New Jersey families need him to stand up for us, he can’t be bothered,” Murphy spokesperson Alex Altman said. “Allowing a platform with the massive reach and influence of TikTok to remain in the control of an adversarial foreign government presents a real threat to national security, but instead of joining every other Democrat in New Jersey’s congressional delegation and taking action, Andy Kim couldn’t be bothered to show up and vote.”
Altman said that of the 86 floor votes the House has taken this year, Kim has missed 36. Kim’s campaign didn’t specify where he was for the TikTok vote, but noted that the congressman has been in office for more than five years and has maintained a consistently high attendance record throughout.
“We appreciate the opportunity to remind people that Congressman Kim has taken approximately 2,700 votes in Congress and has a 98% attendance record, one of the highest in Congress, as he fights to lower prescription drug costs for seniors, combat climate change, fight corruption, and pursue a progressive agenda for change,” Kim spokesperson Katey Sabo said.
The difference in opinion on the TikTok bill is one of the few concrete policy differences that the two leading Senate candidates, both of whom are vying to replace indicted Senator Bob Menendez, have articulated. Much of the campaign has focused on New Jersey’s political mechanisms rather than on how each candidate would vote as a senator – but TikTok, evidently, is an issue on which they would in fact take divergent votes.