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A number of prominent international air travel hubs across the America, among them Phoenix Sky Harbor, Las Vegas's Harry Reid Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International, and Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina, have opted to prevent a public service announcement from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that faults Democratic lawmakers for the ongoing government closure from being shown at their screening locations.

Legal Issues Raised by Airport Authorities

Aviation administrators in Phoenix, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Westchester, New York have refused to display the video content at screening areas, stating that the clearly partisan content could violate federal and state regulations, such as the Hatch Act of 1939, which forbids government workers from engaging in political campaigning.

“Democratic legislators decline to fund the U.S. government, and because of this, many of our activities are affected, and most of our Transportation Security Administration workers are working without pay,” Noem remarked in the announcement.

Portland Reaction

The Port of Portland noted that it “would not agree to airing the video in its current form, as we consider the federal law explicitly forbids utilization of government resources for partisan messaging.” It added that Oregon law prohibits public employees from supporting or criticizing any party affiliation and that consenting to play this content would break Oregon law.

Las Vegas Statement

Las Vegas's Harry Reid airport also refused to show the TSA video on comparable reasons, saying in a release that “the video's message included partisan statements that was inconsistent with the impartial, educational nature of the public service announcements usually shown at checkpoint screens” and also cited the Hatch Act.

Understanding the Hatch Act

The Hatch Act is a federal law that forbids partisan actions by government employees to guarantee that government programs remain non-partisan.

Additional Authority Rejections

• Phoenix airport airport stated that it “refused to post the PSA” to stay “in line with airport policy,” which does not allow partisan material.
• The Seattle port authority, which manages Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, also declined, pointing to “the partisan tone of the content.”
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport said that state local regulations and the airport’s policy for digital content “do not permit the referenced video.” The authority also noted that the Transportation Security Administration lacks ownership of any screens at its checkpoints and that its few display monitors are reserved for directions, travel information, and paid advertisements.

Westchester Criticism

The county, in a statement, called the PSA “unacceptable, improper, and out of line with the values we anticipate from our nation’s top public officials.”

“The PSA politicizes the effects of a federal government shutdown on TSA operations,” the county leader stated, adding that the message was “unnecessarily alarmist” and “erodes public trust.”

Homeland Security Response

A DHS assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, echoed Noem’s wording to attribute fault to “political gamesmanship” in a response, stating that “Democrats will shortly recognize the significance of opening the federal government.”

Cross-Party Appeals for Resolution

The Port of Seattle commented that it continued to “encourage cooperative actions to end the federal closure” and was striving to identify ways to assist government workers unpaid during the shutdown.