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Trump signed EO 14166, first order directing DOJ not to enforce TikTok divestment law

President Trump signed Executive Order 14166, "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," on January 20, 2025 — the same day he was inaugurated and the statutory deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok under PAFACA (P.L. 118-50). The order directed the Department of Justice not to enforce the statute and established a non-enforcement period retroactive to January 19, 2025. It was the first of at least four consecutive executive orders suspending enforcement of PAFACA, followed by EO 14258 (April 4, 2025), EO 14310 (June 19, 2025), and a fourth order (September 16, 2025).

Part of: Trump TikTok Non-Enforcement Order Sequence

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On January 20, 2025 — Inauguration Day and the statutory deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok — President Trump signed Executive Order 14166, "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act." The order directed the Department of Justice not to enforce PAFACA (Public Law 118-50), the bipartisan statute Congress enacted in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest its U.S. TikTok operations or face a ban. The order established a non-enforcement period retroactive to January 19, 2025.

EO 14166 was the first in a series of at least four consecutive executive orders issuing identical directives. EO 14258 (April 4, 2025) extended the non-enforcement period through June 19, 2025 and retroactively immunized all past violations dating to January 19, 2025; EO 14310 (June 19, 2025) extended it further; and a fourth order followed on September 16, 2025. Each order compounded the original constitutional violation: the president suspending a duly enacted federal statute — one passed by bipartisan supermajorities and signed by his predecessor — by executive fiat rather than seeking legislative action.

Why we recorded this

The Constitution assigns to Congress the power to make and repeal laws; the president has no authority to suspend a statute by executive order. PAFACA was enacted with bipartisan supermajorities in both chambers and signed into law. EO 14166 directed the Department of Justice not to enforce it — effectively suspending a duly enacted statute on the day of its statutory deadline. This was the first in a series of at least four consecutive executive orders establishing an unbroken presidential suspension of a specific federal statute without congressional action.

Sources

  1. Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (EO 14166) — Federal Register primary accessed July 1, 2026
  2. Trump signs executive order to delay TikTok ban enforcement — NBC News secondary accessed July 1, 2026

See also