Airports across the country are refusing to play a video featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown that has delayed flights.
“Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay,” Noem said in the video. “We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel, and our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.”
Airports refusing to share the video reportedly include those in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Cleveland, Ohio. Other reports indicate that airports in Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado, are not airing the video.
A spokesperson for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport told The Seattle Times that it will not play the video due to its “political nature.”
We continue to urge bipartisan efforts to end the government shutdown and are working to find ways to support federal employees working without pay at SEA during the shutdown,” the spokesperson said.
Similarly, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland told KATU that it believes the “Hatch Act clearly prohibits using public assets for political purposes and messaging. Additionally, Oregon law states that no public employee can promote or oppose any political committee, party, or affiliation. We believe consenting to playing this video on Port assets would violate Oregon law.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson recently warned that Congress is heading toward a historically long shutdown unless a clean budget is passed.
“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson said.
