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Several major global air travel hubs across the US, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor, Las Vegas's Harry Reid Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International, and Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina, have opted to block a public service announcement from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that attributes responsibility to Democrats for the current federal government shutdown from playing at their screening locations.

Legal Issues Cited by Airport Authorities

Airport officials in Phoenix, Arizona, Las Vegas, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Westchester County have refused to show the footage at security checkpoints, stating that the overtly political messaging could contravene state and federal law, including the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from participating in political campaigning.

“Democratic legislators decline to finance the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are disrupted, and most of our TSA employees are unpaid,” Noem remarked in the announcement.

Portland Response

The Portland airport authority clarified that it “would not agree to airing the PSA in its current form, as we maintain the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political aims.” It added that Oregon law prohibits public employees from supporting or criticizing any political party and that consenting to broadcast this content would break state law.

Harry Reid International Position

The Harry Reid airport also refused to show the security announcement on similar grounds, noting in a release that “its content included partisan statements that was inconsistent with the neutral, educational nature of the PSAs typically shown at security checkpoints” and also referenced the federal act.

Understanding the Hatch Act

The Hatch Act is a federal law that forbids political activities by federal employees to guarantee that government programs stay unbiased.

Further Authority Responses

• Phoenix Sky Harbor airport stated that it “declined to post the PSA” to stay “consistent with airport guidelines,” which prohibits partisan material.
• The Seattle port authority, which manages Sea-Tac airport, also declined, citing “the partisan tone of the video.”
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport clarified that state municipal law and the airport's rules for screen content “do not allow the video in question.” The airport also added that the TSA lacks ownership of any monitors at its security areas and that its few display monitors are reserved for directions, flight updates, and revenue-generating services.

Westchester County Objection

The county, in a statement, called the video “inappropriate, improper, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our federal leaders.”

“The public service announcement makes political the impacts of a government closure on TSA operations,” the county executive said, noting that the message was “unnecessarily alarmist” and “undermines customer confidence.”

Homeland Security Reply

A Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, an agency representative, repeated Noem’s language to attribute fault to “partisan tactics” in a response, adding that “Democratic leaders will soon recognize the significance of opening the government.”

Cross-Party Appeals for Solution

The Port of Seattle said that it continued to “encourage bipartisan efforts to resolve the federal closure” and was striving to find ways to support federal employees unpaid during the closure.