A number of key international air travel hubs across the America, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor, Las Vegas's Harry Reid Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International, and Charlotte Douglas in North Carolina, have decided to prevent a public service announcement from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that faults Democrats for the continuing federal government shutdown from being shown at their screening locations.
Airport officials in Phoenix, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Westchester County have declined to display the video content at security checkpoints, stating that the political statements could contravene state and federal law, such as the Hatch Act of 1939, which forbids government workers from engaging in partisan actions.
“Congressional Democrats refuse to finance the federal government, and as a result, many of our operations are disrupted, and most of our TSA staff are working without pay,” Noem stated in the video.
The Port of Portland clarified that it “would not agree to playing the video in its current form, as we consider the federal law clearly prohibits utilization of government resources for partisan messaging.” It added that state regulations in Oregon prohibits public employees from supporting or criticizing any party affiliation and that agreeing to play this video would violate state law.
The Harry Reid International Airport also refused to show the TSA video on comparable reasons, stating in a statement that “its content included partisan statements that was inconsistent with the neutral, informational nature of the public service announcements usually displayed at checkpoint screens” and also cited the federal act.
The Hatch Act of 1939 is a U.S. law that forbids partisan actions by federal employees to guarantee that public services remain non-partisan.
Westchester County, in a statement, described the video “unacceptable, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we anticipate from our federal leaders.”
“The public service announcement politicizes the effects of a government closure on TSA operations,” the county executive said, noting that the message was “overly alarming” and “erodes customer confidence.”
A Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, an agency representative, echoed Noem’s wording to attribute fault to “partisan tactics” in a statement, adding that “Democratic leaders will soon realize the importance of reopening the federal government.”
The Seattle authority commented that it continued to “encourage bipartisan efforts to resolve the federal closure” and was striving to find ways to support government workers unpaid during the closure.
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