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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) lifted the ban on the social media platform TikTok for government devices on Monday, officially ending the yearslong saga.
The memo, signed by OMB Secretary Russell Vought Monday, comes after the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel released its own memo stating government employees can lawfully download TikTok on government devices following the platforms’ new U.S. venture.
TikTok announced the new venture, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, last January, which is majority owned by U.S. investors.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake in the company.
The venture was created to comply with a law passed by Congress in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores.
The measure received widespread bipartisan support in the face of privacy and national security concerns related to the app’s ties to China.
While OMB’s memo was issued Monday, most of President Trump’s Cabinet joined TikTok late last month and were featured for “welcome back” videos on agency accounts.
Three American firms — Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX — will serve as managing investors, each holding a 15 percent stake.
Other investors include an investment firm tied to Dell CEO and founder Michael Dell, as well as affiliates of Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, among others.
TikTok originally challenged the divest-or-ban law, but it was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court just days before it was set to take effect. The app briefly went dark before receiving assurances from then-President-elect Trump.
Trump vowed to “save” TikTok during his 2024 campaign, quickly signing an executive order after his inauguration to delay enforcement for several months.
Trump repeatedly pushed back the deadline as he tried to reach a deal with China that would allow the app to continue operating in the U.S. A deal came close last year but was scuttled by the president’s announcement of wide-ranging reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries, including China.
An agreement was reached last September, and Trump signed an executive order that month approving the deal to spin off TikTok’s U.S. business.
The Hill reached out to TikTok for further comment.
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