WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of

Justice asked the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject

President-elect Donald Trump's request to delay implementation

of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force

its sale by Jan. 19.

Last week, Trump filed a legal brief arguing he should have

time after taking office on Jan. 20 to pursue a "political

resolution" to the issue. The court is set to hear arguments in

the case on Jan. 10.

The law, passed in April, requires TikTok's Chinese owner,

ByteDance, to divest the platform's U.S. assets or face a ban.

TikTok did not immediately comment.

The DOJ said in its filing that Trump's request could only

be granted if ByteDance had established it was likely to succeed

on the merits but the company had not done so.

DOJ said no one disputes China "seeks to undermine U.S.

interests by amassing sensitive data about Americans and

engaging in covert and malign influence operations."

The government asserted that "no one can seriously dispute

that (China's) control of TikTok through ByteDance represents a

grave threat to national security: TikTok's collection of reams

of sensitive data about 170 million Americans and their contacts

makes it a powerful tool for espionage."

Trump lawyer D. John Sauer wrote last week the

president-elect "respectfully requests that the Court consider

staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025,

while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting

President Trump's incoming administration the opportunity to

pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the

case."

TikTok on Friday urged the Supreme Court to block the law on

free-speech grounds under the First Amendment of the U.S.

Constitution. It said Congress had not sought to ban

Chinese-owned apps like Shein or Temu, which strongly suggests

"it targeted TikTok for its social-media content, not its data."

If the court does not block the law by Jan. 19, new

downloads of TikTok on Apple ( AAPL ) or Google app

stores would be banned but existing users could continue to

access the app. Services would degrade over time and eventually

stop working as companies will be barred from providing support.

Biden could extend the deadline by 90 days if he certifies

ByteDance is making substantial progress toward a divestiture.

Trump's support for TikTok is a reversal from 2020, when he

tried to block the app in the United States and force its sale

to American companies because of its Chinese ownership.