By SARAH PARVINI and MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — After TikTok was banned in the United States earlier this year, President Donald Trump gave the platform a reprieve, barreling past a law that was passed in Congress and upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court that said the ban was necessary for national security.

The Republican president’s executive orders have spurred more than 130 lawsuits in the little more than two months he has been in office, but this one barely generated a peep. None of those suits challenges his temporary block of the 2024 law that banned the popular social video app after the deadline passed for it to be sold by ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

Few of the 431 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate who voted for the law have complained.

Despite a bipartisan consensus about the risk to national security posed by TikTok’s ties to China, “it’s as if nothing ever happened,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute.

TikTok has stayed online, delighting 170 million users in the U.S.

TikTok continues to function, much to the delight of its 170 million users in the U.S., and the tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle have been persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trump’s Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.

Trump declared he was suspending the law for 75 days, though no provision of the rule would appear to allow for that, to give ByteDance a fresh chance to find a U.S. buyer. The president has suggested he could extend the pause, but he has since said he expects a deal by Saturday, when the reprieve expires. He is meeting Wednesday with aides about possible suitors for TikTok. Oracle and the investment firm Blackstone are among the potential investors.

FILE – A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Trump’s action followed a fast-tracked free-speech challenge by TikTok and its users that ended with a unanimous Supreme Court ruling days before Trump’s inauguration, in which the justices held that national security concerns overcame their usual receptivity to First Amendment claims.

The court’s opinions dealt at length with the potential for China to harvest vast quantities of TikTok users’ data that could allow it to track the locations of federal employees and contractors.

“The record before us establishes that TikTok mines data both from TikTok users and about millions of others who do not consent to share their information,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a brief separate opinion. “According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, TikTok can access ‘any data’ stored in a consenting user’s ‘contact list’ — including names, photos, and other personal information about unconsenting third parties.”

TikTok, which has headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles, has said it prioritizes user safety, and China’s Foreign Ministry has said China’s government has never and will not ask companies to “collect or provide data, information or intelligence” held in foreign countries.

Trump was against TikTok before he was for it

The day after the ruling, TikTok went dark for U.S. users, but it came back online after Trump vowed to stall the ban.

The president’s position has evolved over time. During his first term, he used an executive order to try to ban TikTok on national security grounds. But federal courts blocked it. His administration then tried to negotiate a sale of the platform, but it failed.

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Trump changed his tune during his 2024 campaign and said he would “save TikTok,” then credited the platform with helping him win more young voters. He issued the 75-day pause on the first day of his second term.

The law allows for one 90-day reprieve, but only if there’s a deal on the table and a formal notification to Congress.

Trump’s actions so far violate the law, said Alan Rozenshtein, an associate law professor at the University of Minnesota. “The law does not permit the sort of ‘extension’ that Donald Trump has announced,” Rozenshtein said.

But both he and Kreps acknowledged a court challenge or other pushback is unlikely.

“Who’s the constituency? You have 170 million Americans using the app, and they’re pretty happy to see this continue to be available to them,” Kreps said.

It also might be hard for someone to establish the legal right, or standing, to sue, Rozenshtein said. A plaintiff would have to be able to show harm from the delay in enforcing the law, he said.

More importantly, he said, the TikTok executive order was an early “example of the Trump administration not caring about the rule of law.”

While Trump has directed the Justice Department not to seek fines from the tech companies, they still are taking a legal gamble, according to Democratic lawmakers who oppose the TikTok ban but also criticize Trump for his actions. A future administration might have its own reasons to pursue legal claims against Apple, Google and Oracle, they wrote Trump in a letter last week.

Companies could face hundreds of billions of dollars in legal liability for facilitating TikTok’s operations since the law’s effective date of Jan. 19, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Ed Markey of Massachusetts wrote.

Tech companies initially lacked clear guidance

The companies themselves acknowledged their legally uncertain situation in their initial response to Trump’s order. Oracle continued to provide cloud services to TikTok, the senators said, but “Apple and Google, however, initially came to a different decision and refused to reinstate TikTok in their app stores.”

The companies changed course only after receiving written assurance from the Justice Department.

The Democrats have called for amending the law to extend the deadline for a sale to October. Other opponents of the TikTok ban support a full repeal.

Among the few supporters of the ban to speak out is Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

But rather than take on Trump, Moolenaar has focused his criticism on ByteDance and its ties the Chinese Communist Party. “If ByteDance stays involved in any way, the deal is illegal — plain and simple,” Moolenaar said in remarks to a TikTok event on Capitol Hill last week.

Several potential bidders have stepped forward.

Perplexity AI presented ByteDance in January with a merger proposal that would combine Perplexity’s business with TikTok’s U.S. operations.

Another possibility is a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser. Investors in the consortium previously said they offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikTok’s U.S. platform. They had planned to redesign the popular app with blockchain technology they said would provide users with more control over their online data.

FILE – Alexis Ohanian poses for photos on the red carpet at the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, had also organized a consortium, which included the CEO of the video game platform Roblox, and offered ByteDance more than $30 billion for TikTok.

Parvini reported from Los Angeles.

Some years back, I fired off a forgettable social media post referencing the “three co-equal branches” of government. A friend — a smart journalist steeped in American political history — responded with a gentle correction reminding me that Congress was the “supreme branch,” befitting its Article I status in the United States Constitution.

Turns out we were both wrong, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Since the turn of the century, Congress has increasingly functioned as a quasi-parliament rather than as an independent branch of government – the legislative branch, to be precise. Rather than jealously guarding the distinct powers granted to them under the Constitution, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both Democrat and Republican, willingly, almost gleefully, cede authority to the executive branch whenever their party controls the White House.

Principle? Nah, just partisan preference

This phenomenon long predates President Donald Trump’s second term and the current, compliant GOP majorities on Capitol Hill, although, to be clear, it certainly extends to both (more on that in a moment.) Are there exceptions? Sure. But on this matter, exceptions prove the rule, explained Yuval Levin, director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC.

“The president’s party in Congress just functions as the president’s party in Congress, rather than part of the separate, legislative branch,” Levin said in a telephone interview. “The opposition party functions as the anti-president’s party in Congress, and they don’t really work with each other in a way that’s separate from the president’s agenda.”

In other words, the only time lawmakers take issue with a president infringing on their constitutional prerogatives, if not outright usurping them, is when it’s the other party’s guy doing the infringing and usurping. Not very “supreme.” Not very “co-equal,” either. Perhaps “the subordinate branch” is a better way to describe Congress. (The judicial branch — Article III — is, like presidents, not at all shy about exercising constitutional power.)

‘The separation of parties has overwhelmed the separation of powers’

That the legislative branch ended up here is partly a product of moves congressional Democrats made beginning in the 1970s, and that congressional Republicans continued in the 1990s, both under divided government — with one party controlling Congress and the other the White House — to strip influential policy committees of their muscle and concentrate political power in the hands of party leaders. In the House of Representatives, this resulted in the consolidation of power with the speaker, and in the Senate, with the majority leader. Rank-and-file lawmakers were effectively neutered. Ironically, this was done to thwart executive power.

“Congress ended up, because it was centralized, becoming just a player in our presidential politics,” Levin said. Representatives and senators understand themselves, first and foremost, either as critics or supporters of the president.

Levin continued: “The separation of parties has overwhelmed the separation of powers.”

With Trump stretching the bounds of executive authority, there is a renewed focus on just how uninterested in exercising power members of Congress appear to be.

The 45th and 47th president is busy dismantling or partially disassembling government agencies created by congressional statute. And yes, Trump is threatening to ignore the “power of the purse” reserved specifically for the legislative branch, through a process known as impoundment, under which he would simply refuse to spend money as authorized under the law by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Buried in his blizzard of executive orders are yet more power grabs at the expense of Congress.

But Trump is hardly the first president to push the limits of his Article II prerogatives, nor are today’s congressional Republicans unique in their readiness to acquiesce.

Biden did it, Obama did it, Bush did it …

Democrat Joe Biden did it; recall his unconstitutional student-loan forgiveness program. Democrat Barack Obama did it; recall his “pen and phone” decision to grant permanent residency to certain illegal immigrants. Republican George W. Bush did it; recall signing statements declaring he would not enforce aspects of legislation he opposed. And not once did Democrats (in the case of Biden and Obama) or Republicans (in the case of Bush) do anything about it. Indeed, they largely cheered them the on, as is the case in some instances so far, a little more than two months into Trump’s second presidency.

Another manifestation of this trend: Congress regularly has trouble agreeing to government spending packages and typically passes legislation that leaves the details up to bureaucrats and rule makers in executive branch agencies, allowing elected representatives to avoid tough decisions and political responsibility in the event of voter backlash.

Yet another sign: the number of White House vetoes has plummeted over the years. Before this recent trend of congressional acquiescence, Republican President Ronald Reagan issued 78 vetoes in his eight years in office. As the trend gathered steam, Democratic President Bill Clinton vetoed 37 bills in his two terms. But two-term presidents Bush and Obama each vetoed just 12. There was a slight uptick of vetoes issued by Trump during his first term (10) and by Biden (13), but nothing approaching the Reagan era.

Now, we’re more like Europe

This synergy of the executive and the legislative is a feature of the parliamentary governments common across Europe and in countries like Canada, Israel and Japan. But it is entirely antithetical to the system of checks and balances — with ruthless competition for power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches — undergirding the constitutional order designed by the American Founders. At least, it’s supposed to be.

“In a parliamentary system, the executive comes from and is part of the legislative branch—no separation of powers and little checks and balances. It is essentially rule by party,” Jeff Brauer, a political science professor who teaches comparative government at Keystone College, a private university near Scranton, Pennsylvania, said. “Undoubtedly, over the past couple of decades, the US government has been acting more and more like a parliamentary system.”

Congress’ ongoing abdication of power isn’t likely to end anytime soon.

Brauer points out that voters “probably don’t understand the intricacies or differences that set the US system apart from parliamentary systems — and perhaps don’t care.” Like their representatives and senators, they want congressional pushback against presidents they oppose. But they seem to prefer submission in the case of presidents they support. In fact, it’s this preference that discourages Democrats and Republicans from telling president of their own party “no” when he overreaches.

Polarized bases, subservient Congress

Possibly, an extended period of divided government might change matters. Possibly, even, disillusionment in Congress — which apparently exists, Tom Reynolds, a Republican former member of the House of Representatives from Buffalo, New York, told me. “I talk to members all the time and I see the frustration,” he said. Yet the challenge in getting the legislative branch to reclaim its power, as Brauer noted, is that lawmakers are reacting to the perceived will of the voters.

That’s something Reynolds, who retired from Congress in 2009 and now works in government relations, understands well. He was his party’s campaign chief, serving as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee in the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. “What has added to this (problem of a subservient legislative branch) is a very polarized base of both parties.”

David M. Drucker is columnist covering politics and policy. He is also a senior writer for The Dispatch and the author of “In Trump’s Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP.”

In March, we featured 15 cats and seven dogs in our pet feature in the weekday version of our newsletter, the Morning Report.

It’s a popular way we sign off for the day.

“I enjoy this feature of the paper,” Becky wrote. “My favorite!”

Check out more pet photos in our February slideshow.

Friday, March 28

Mocha

“Here are a few pics of my daughter’s cat, Mocha,” Jeane writes. “Mocha was a stray kitten who we think was dropped off in the country. Mocha managed to get to my daughter’s grandfather’s house, who took care of Mocha until my daughter could pick her up.

“Mocha has more toys than I’ve ever seen a cat have and is quite spoiled. My daughter enjoys dressing her up in bows and bandanas — much to Mocha’s dismay. Mocha loves looking out the windows on her cat ledge, taking naps and playing with all of her toys.

“Thanks for the pet photo section — we love seeing it every day!”

Thursday, March 27

Steve is enjoying his new home.

“Steve has settled in,” Linda writes. “These are his two favorite spots. He’s following in my footsteps!”

Wednesday, March 26

Bibbs, Sarge and Toby.

“Gibbs, 2, Sarge, 7, and Toby, 12,” Marilyn writes. “They all hang out together every day. They all have a better life than all of us humans, and they deserve it!”

Tuesday, March 25

Tailsrus Dream Maker of Softnotes.

“I hope you’re having a nice spring,” Jill writes. “Our furry crowd is doing well and I am attaching a picture of our Kurilian Bobtail Longhair, Tailsrus Dream Maker of Softnotes.

“This breed is very unusual and like some other bobtails they have a short tail consisting of kinked vertebrae and a pom-pom at the end. Because he is longhaired it’s more difficult to see the tail. They originated in the Kurilian Region of Russia and he comes by the way of Canada where he was bred.

“He will be on display at the Gopher State Cat Club show April 26 and 27 at the Crystal Community Center located at 4800 Douglas Drive N. in Crystal. The show runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and there will be dozens of breeds and exhibitors happy to talk about their cats and their care. There will also be vendors with lots of products for cats and their people.”

Monday, March 24

Sookie and Chloe as wedding attendants. (Photos by Betsy Wall)

“I love your pet column,” Nancy writes. “These are my grandpups, Sookie and Chloe, two French bulldogs who died four years ago. There were half sisters and died from different cancers a month apart.

“Here are Sookie and Chloe at their peak of beauty and sophistication. The ring bearers at my daughter’s wedding, they are kissing the flower girl. They were never that elegant again, after all they are Frenchies.”

Friday, March 21

Honey

“Thanks for keeping your wonderful pet column going, it is such a day brightener,” Sylvia writes. “Speaking of day brighteners, I have attached a photo of my sister Jane’s cat, Honey. Jane adopted Honey from the Animal Humane Society in Woodbury on Aug. 4, 2023, my sister’s 80th birthday. Honey was a year old at the time. Jane and Honey did lots of bird watching this winter. Blue jays would show up on the patio almost every day, providing hours of entertainment.”

Thursday, March 20

Dude and Wanda.

Dude and Wanda, two cats described in a poem-like email from Julene:

They are the constant companions of nephew Joe.

Laying on the floor

Dude on left

Wanda on right

One of favorite activities:

Hanging out on their tower

Watching dogs walking by.

Wednesday, March 19

Yoshi Neko

“Yoshi Neko is a 9-year-old tom,” Jeff writes. “He came to us as a stray in 2017. He has the most personality of any cat we’ve ever had. He is the first to the door when anyone comes over and if you don’t like cats, he considers you a project. His vices are bread in bags on the counter and tropical fish food, which he considers a condiment that should be shared. We absolutely love our bandit.”

Tuesday, March 18

Butters

“The cat distribution system found me a couple of years ago while I was staying at an Airbnb in southern Illinois,” Gina writes. “As soon as I checked in this young cat was at the door trying to get in. I thought maybe he belonged to the building owner, he was so friendly and had no fear of my big dogs. Over the next few days I saw him scavenging for food in the dumpster and sleeping on the porch. On the last day of my trip I checked with neighbors to see if he belonged to someone and was told he was just a stray. I tried to get a hold of a local rescue with no luck. I couldn’t just leave him, so I bought a small kennel and squeezed him into my packed truck with the dogs and made the twelve hour drive home. Welcome home Butters!”

Monday, March 17 (Memorial Monday)

Chester and family.

When we say goodbye to a pet, we grieve; so do the other pets in our home.

“Chester, my college roommate’s cat, was the sweetest and had everyone wrapped around his paw — even his dog roomies, which he showed who was boss by taking over their bed!” Calia writes. “His furry friends (cat Merlin and dogs Ringo and Guinness) and humans, Kelsey and Travis, miss him.”

Friday, March 14

Snoop Dog and Martha

“Snoop Dog is a rescue Cocker/Chihuahua Mix from Kentucky,” Mary writes. “Martha Stewart is a cockapoo who will turn 1 in Jan.. They love to play and wrestle each other for toys and chase each other in the yard. We joke that they are the reason we can’t have nice things. Martha’s favorite pastime is stealing toilet paper, Kleenex and socks from the laundry. Snoop Dog loves to curl up on the couch next to his human. We couldn’t imagine life without them.Snoop Dog was so patient with his Mom dressing him up.”

Thursday, March 13

Raj and Rumi.

“The most meowgical time of year for siblings Raj and Rumi, Lynx Point Siamese from Wags n Whiskers rescue,” Seth writes.

Wednesday, March 12

“In early December 2023, on a very gray Sunday, after months of rattling around in my new house by myself and feeling kinda lonely, I spied a photo of a sweet-looking kitty on my hometown animal rescue’s Facebook page. Something about her intrigued me and I found myself revisiting her photo several times that day. Long story short, I made the nearly four-hour trek the following weekend to meet her. And, well, Gracie (aka Heeeer Kitty Kitty) accompanied me back to the Twin Cities the next day.

Gracie

“A few days later, I couldn’t find Gracie anywhere. After walking through the living room for the fourteenth time, I discovered her hanging out with the Christmas decor on top of the entertainment center (yes, I still had one of those). She was the prettiest ornament up there! I climbed up on a chair and stifled a laugh as I grabbed her. How did she get up there? After a few minutes of scratching my head, I realized she must have jumped up on the kitchen counter, leaped up on the refrigerator, up onto the partial wall, and then made her way to the entertainment center, jumping down and artfully arranging herself in the garland. I wondered how long she had been mapping that out in her mind.

“It has been a year of ‘Where-is-she-now’ searches around the house (her coloring makes her blend in with the furnishings), as well as plain old domestic bliss for both of us. I feel immensely blessed that we found one another.”

Tuesday, March 11

Ninja Marie and Mo

“Tis the season for chilling under the Christmas tree before the presents arrive!” Meridy wrote. “Ninja Marie is our sweet girl, adopted from Feline Rescue summer 2022. She fit into our family right away and is the best cat. When she’s not curled up next to one of us, she’s alternating between avoiding attention from and instigating chases with our Cockapoo rescue, Mo. Here’s a photo of a rare brief moment of calm between the two.”

Monday, March 10

Ida

“This is my dad and stepmom’s cat who was adopted as a tiny, scared kitten many years ago,” Becky writes. “She has the run of the land they live on, sleeps on the flowers in the garden and likes to drink out of the lake. In the winter she spends most of the day indoors and enjoys the fireplace and can’t wait for her nightly treats, giving my dad a gentle reminder that it’s treat time, if necessary. She is a bright spot in their lives. I enjoy this feature of the paper. My favorite!”

Friday, March 7

Dempsey

“Here’s a picture of Dempsey enjoying the snow this morning!” Sean wrote in December. “Having moved here from Texas six years ago, he’s been fascinated by the winter weather here and always watches it from our windows looking out over Union Depot.”

Thursday, March 6

Charlie, waiting for baseball season.

“Waiting for Spring!” writes Susan. “This is Charlie, my 3-year-old Springerdoodle, modeling his Christmas present. He is not crazy about wearing clothes but he looks so darn cute wearing his Twins gear!”

Wednesday, March 5

Welcome home, Steve.

“Good morning!” Linda writes. “This is 5-month-old Steve. He came from Humane Society of the Lakes in Detroit Lakes. He is a very welcome addition to my home. Even if he is a little boisterous.”

Tuesday, March 4

Franklin

“Greetings from Franklin, in one of his favorite spots,” write Sue and Bruce. “He keeps us entertained with his zoomies and cuddling. And he’s always better dressed than we are!”

Monday, March 3

Skittles

“Skittles is a British Shorthair cat that my dad had flown in from Seattle for me when I was 9 years old,” writes Avi Noelle of Vadnais Heights. “I am now 21 and celebrating our 12th ‘Gotcha Day.’”

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Today is Wednesday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2025. There are 273 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 2, 2005, John Paul II, the Polish pope born Karol Józef Wojtyła, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84. The first non-Italian pope in over 450 years, John Paul II became one of the most influential leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries while playing a crucial role in the fall of communism in Europe.

Also on this date:

In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

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Today in History: April 1, US forces invade Okinawa during World War II

Today in History: March 31, Bruce Lee’s son accidentally shot to death on movie set

Today in History: March 30, Reagan shot in assassination attempt

Today in History: March 29, ‘Terra-cotta Army’ discovered in China

2,350 Minnesotans were sterilized under state’s 1925 eugenics law — most of them women

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, after Union troops broke through Confederate lines in the Third Battle of Petersburg.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” (Congress declared war four days later.)

In 1982, Argentine troops seized the disputed Falkland Islands from the United Kingdom, sparking the Falklands War.

In 1992, mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering; he was later sentenced to life in prison without parole. (Gotti died in prison in 2002.)

In 2007, in its first case on climate change, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, ruled 5-4 that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

In 2012, a gunman killed seven people at Oikos University, a Christian school in Oakland, California. (The gunman, One Goh, died in 2019 while serving a life prison sentence.)

In 2020, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 1 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Today’s Birthdays:

Disc jockey Dr. Demento is 84.
Actor Linda Hunt is 80.
Musician Emmylou Harris is 78.
Actor Christopher Meloni is 64.
Tennis Hall of Famer Todd Woodbridge is 54.
Actor Pedro Pascal is 50.
Actor Adam Rodriguez is 50.
Actor Michael Fassbender is 48.
Country musician Chris Janson is 39.
Actor Jesse Plemons is 37.
Rapper Quavo is 34.
Country musician Zach Bryan is 29.