The video is expected to be played on monitors over the security lines before passengers pass through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports.
WASHINGTON — A video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown is being rolled out at airport security checkpoints across the nation, in the latest move by the Trump administration to push blame for the shutdown.
The video is expected to be played on monitors over the security lines before passengers pass through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports, according to reporting by CNN and Fox News.
“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,” Noem says in the video, obtained by both outlets. “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.”
It’s not unusual to see government officials on video at TSA checkpoints. But usually, those videos are safety briefings and reassurances that the Transportation Safety Administration is working to keep Americans safe.
It is highly unusual for the messages to be political or partisan in nature.
The TSA confirmed to CNN that the videos would be rolling out to airports around the country, but did not specify when they would start to be seen by travelers. Around three million passengers fly each day in the U.S., according to the FAA.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to Reuters the video had begun airing at U.S. airports.
The White House’s “Rapid Response” social media account shared the video on Friday.
But this isn’t the first time since the federal government shut down on Oct. 1 that nationwide agencies have attempted to publicly blame Democrats.
At least eight federal agencies posted messages blaming the government shutdown on Democrats or the left, a move critics say misuses U.S. government websites in a partisan messaging war.
Several other agencies have posted neutral messages on their websites, noting the lapse in appropriations may disrupt some services.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Sept. 30, the day before the shutdown deadline, blamed the “Radical Left” for any problems caused by the lack of federal services.
“The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands,” the banner read. “The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”
Shortly after the shutdown began, similarly-toned messages had popped up on at least seven other agency websites, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, several of which did mention the Democratic Party.
Some questioned whether the postings violated the Hatch Act, an 80-year-old law that restricts partisan political activity by federal employees.
The Hatch Act is a 1939 federal law that restricts the political activities of most executive branch employees to prevent the misuse of government positions for partisan purposes.
The law prohibits federal workers from engaging in political activity while on duty, in a government building, wearing an official uniform or using a government vehicle. It also bars them from soliciting or receiving political contributions, and from running for partisan political office.
The restrictions aim to ensure federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner and to protect employees from political coercion. Career civil servants, political appointees and members of the military fall under the act’s provisions, though the president, vice president and certain high-level officials are exempt.
The law takes its name from Sen. Carl Hatch, a New Mexico Democrat who sponsored the legislation amid concerns about political interference in New Deal programs.
Noem’s public attack on Democrats also comes as airport safety comes under increased scrutiny because of the shutdown.
A major airport in Burbank, California, near Los Angeles, was left without air traffic controllers for six hours earlier this week, because of a severe staffing shortage caused by the shutdown.
While air traffic controllers are considered essential by the government and required to work through a shutdown, the number of requests for sick leave tend to rise dramatically as a government shutdown drags on because they are working without pay.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference Monday that the FAA was already tracking an uptick in air traffic controllers calling out sick.
The shutdown could also mean passengers spend longer in line waiting to get through security. TSA workers, who are also classified as essential, are also expected to be understaffed while the shutdown is ongoing, as the department runs on a skeleton crew to save costs and workers call in sick.
The shutdown is nearing the end of its second week, with no end in sight. Republicans and Democrats appear just as far apart on healthcare subsidies, a major sticking point in reaching a funding bill that can pass the Senate with 60 votes.
In Washington, the halls of the Capitol were quiet on Friday, the 10th day of the shutdown, with both the House and the Senate out of Washington and both sides digging in for a protracted shutdown fight. Senate Republicans have tried repeatedly to cajole Democratic holdouts to vote for a stopgap bill to reopen the government, but Democrats have refused as they hold out for a firm commitment to extend health care benefits.
And the White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers, adding more tension to the situation.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.
A spokesperson for the budget office said the reductions are “substantial” but did not offer more immediate details.
The White House previewed that it would pursue the aggressive layoff tactic shortly before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, telling all federal agencies to submit their reduction-in-force plans to the budget office for its review. It said reduction-in-force plans could apply for federal programs whose funding would lapse in a government shutdown, are otherwise not funded and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
This goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown, which is that federal workers are furloughed but restored to their jobs once the shutdown ends.
Democrats have tried to call the administration’s bluff, arguing the firings could be illegal, and seemed bolstered by the fact that the White House had yet to carry out the firings.
But President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he would soon have more information about how many federal jobs would be eliminated.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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