Several airports from Buffalo, New York, to Portland, Oregon, have refused to air a partisan video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
The government has been shuttered for nearly three weeks after Congress failed to pass a bill to fund federal agencies by midnight on October 1. Tens of thousands of flight delays, many connected to staffing shortages at air traffic control towers, have been reported since.
On Monday alone, there were nearly 7,000 delays within, into or out of the U.S., according to flight tracking site FlightAware, as airports are impacted by staffing shortages and bad weather.
In what is becoming commonplace amid the shutdown, the Trump administration is using federal platforms to repeat Republican talking points that Democrats are the reason government agencies have not been operating at their average rate.
In Noem’s video, she said, “It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe. However, 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.”
“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,” she added.
Fox News first reported on the video last Thursday, saying it would “play at every public airport in America.” But, according to a new report from The Washington Post, that is not how things have played out.
Airports serving Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon, have refused to play the video, saying it could violate internal polices or state or federal laws that ban political messaging.
“We believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” Molly Prescott, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland, which operates Portland International Airport, told The Washington Post.
The Hatch Act bans certain political activities of federal employees to, in part, “ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion,” according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins told The Washington Post his local airport, located north of New York City, refused to show the “unnecessarily alarmist” video, calling it “inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials.”
When The Independent reached the Homeland Security Department for comment about the pushback it’s getting on Noem’s video, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reiterated the video’s message and added: “Our security operations remain largely unimpacted at this time. It’s unfortunate our workforce has been put in this position due to political gamesmanship.”
Aside from Noem’s video, there are also pop-ups on government websites, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
“The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need,” a message on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website reads.
In a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration, a federal workers’ union said it was making “a mockery of statutory prohibitions like the Hatch Act.”
The suit, filed on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees, claimed the Education Department, without giving notice or getting consent, replaced employees’ out-of-office emails with “partisan language,” blaming Democratic senators for the shutdown.
Democrats are demanding a reversal in Medicaid cuts laid out in Trump’s massive spending bill, which he signed in July, and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies for their support of a funding bill.
Republicans have baselessly claimed Democrats want to give free healthcare to undocumented immigrants, despite the group not being eligible for federal healthcare programs aside from emergency services.
Flight delays caused by some air traffic controllers calling out sick helped pressure lawmakers to open the government during the last shutdown during the latter half of Trump’s first term. But so far, Democrats and Republicans have yet to reach a deal this time around.
