Sept 5 (Reuters) - TikTok and a group of creators on the popular short video app have tapped a pair of leading U.S. Supreme Court lawyers to battle the U.S. government over a law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets or face a ban.

The U.S. government and TikTok will go head-to-head in federal court on Monday as oral arguments begin in a consequential legal case that will determine if – or how — a popular social media platform used by nearly half of all Americans will continue to operate in the country.

A federal appeals court will weigh a law that could shut down the Chinese-backed app used by half of Americans.