Lawmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump’s decision to keep TikTok from going dark as he prepares to let the social media giant operate in the United States for another 90 days.

Republicans want to see TikTok sold or shuttered, in compliance with a 2024 law that was supposed to force the app out of Chinese hands by Jan. 19. But Trump is now issuing his third extension of the year, a move that goes well beyond the initial 90-day grace period allowed by Congress.

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Congressional Republicans were willing to give Trump broad latitude as he attempted to attract a U.S. buyer, and before Trump imposed a steep set of tariffs, the administration was projecting confidence that would happen around April.

But the sale has since become wrapped up in the larger trade dispute with China, while the White House is newly preoccupied with escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The inaction is prompting GOP unease on Capitol Hill. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “not overly delighted” about the extension. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he told the Washington Examiner.

“I think there is growing frustration,” added Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee and Select Committee on China. “The national security concerns and vulnerabilities are still there, and they have not gone away. I would argue they’ve almost become more enhanced in many ways.”

That pushback has its limits, as some Republicans see shuttering TikTok as a low priority relative to the unfolding conflict with Iran. Congress is also preoccupied with passing Trump’s tax agenda by August.

“There’s a lot of things that we could be frustrated about, and this is not on the top of the priority list right now,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), though he expressed concern that China is stringing the U.S. along in a separate interview before war broke out with Iran.

“At some point, they’re just playing us along, like Putin is the president, and so in this particular case, if they don’t want to do a deal, shut it down, because the damages they’re doing here are significant,” said Rounds, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Trump has tapped Vice President JD Vance to help broker the deal with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, and a U.S. buyer.

Some lawmakers were not familiar with the impending executive order or were still satisfied, leaving it to the president’s judgment. The White House announced the extension on Tuesday, but Trump has not yet signed it.

“I think it’s probably wise,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said of the extension. “And we’re gonna have to deal with it, the president’s gonna have to deal with it sooner or later, but there’s a lot going on right now.” 

That wait-and-see attitude extends to some Democrats. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, simply said, “I want to know more about what they plan to do.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told the Washington Examiner he was not opposed to the extension while adding, “I do think we have to get to a resolution here at some point.”

Other congressional Democrats tied the TikTok extension to broader allegations that Trump is openly defying the law with his executive actions to lay off federal workers, end birthright citizenship, and more.

“He violates the law every day — every day — in many ways. This is just one of many,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.

His criticism was echoed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said the administration was “ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed by a [People’s Republic of China]-controlled TikTok.”

“An executive order can’t sidestep the law, but that’s exactly what the president is trying to do,” Warner said in a statement.

The open disagreement among Republicans is striking for a Congress that has largely deferred to the president, though most GOP lawmakers avoided criticizing Trump directly.

“I am over TikTok. I’m ready for them to either get out of the hands of the Communist Party or shut down, and I have no problem with it going dark,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). “There’s a lot of other options on the internet that aren’t owned by the Chinese government.”

Rounds said Trump was “pushing it” in terms of the legality of his actions.

“I understand he wants to make a deal on it, but the bottom line is, at some point, Congress will start putting more pressure on getting this thing done, because we all recognize how serious this issue is,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a libertarian who wants to see the law rescinded altogether, stood as the rare Republican to side in principle with Trump, who warmed to TikTok after attempting to ban it in his first term. 

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The divest-or-ban law received overwhelming support in the House, with just 58 Republicans and Democrats voting against it. Former President Joe Biden signed the measure after it passed the Senate as part of a larger measure on foreign aid.

“I believe that it abrogates people’s First Amendment right to express themselves, and that Tiktok should operate like any other social media company,” Paul said of the bill.

Lauren Green contributed to this report.